In command of the flight was 43-year-old Captain Clive Adamson, a relatively experienced pilot and line check captain with 6,500 total hours, nearly half of them on the Metroliner. Joining him was less experienced first officer, 41-year-old Anthony Drummond, who had 2,300 flying hours but only 70 on the Metroliner, which he had started flying earlier that year. No one else was on board, nor was there room, since the entire cabin was full of palletized mail.
The aircraft was scheduled for take off at 9:00 P.M. local time, but it was delayed while cargo was being loaded. During the delay the pilots ordered an extra 570 litres (130 imp gal; 150 US gal) of fuel and told the person refueling to put all the fuel in the left wing fuel tank, instead of splitting the fuel exactly between the two tanks, as was company procedure. The flight eventually took off at 9:36 P.M. local time.
Immediately after take off the autopilot was engaged and it controlled the aircraft during its climb to flight level 220 (approximately 22,000 feet (6,700 m). The flight was continued at full power instead of cruise setting to make up for lost time for the next fifteen minutes. On powering down to cruise power, the captain noticed imbalance between the fuel tanks and initiated cross flow procedures. Shortly after, at 10:13 P.M. local time, the plane entered a spiral descent and broke up, killing both pilots.[4]
Investigationedit
The accident was investigated by the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).[5] It found that when the captain noted the fuel imbalance, he said, "We'll just open the cross flow again ... sit on left ball and trim it accordingly." He repeated the instruction five times in the next 19 seconds, to which the co-pilot replied, "I was being a bit cautious". The captain said, "Don't be cautious mate, it'll do it good".[5]
This resulted in the plane being flown at a large sideslip angle while still under autopilot control, by means of the rudder trim mechanism. Forty-seven seconds after the cross flow was opened, the captain said, "Doesn't like that one mate ... you'd better grab it." One second later they received a "bank angle" warning, followed by a warning chime that was presumably a warning they were straying from their correct altitude.
The investigation came to the conclusion that this was due to the autopilot disengaging, probably due to a servo reaching its torque limit. This meant that there was no compensation applied for the rudder trim input, and the plane entered a roll and steep descent, disintegrating around flight level 199. The investigation found poor visibility at night in low cloud was a factor in preventing the pilots realizing sooner.
The following improvements were implemented as a result:
On 30 May 2005, the operator issued a Notice to Pilots advising that forthwith the SOP was to give the refueller the volume of fuel to be put into each wing tank to achieve a balanced load prior to engine start, in accordance with the Pre-Start checklist, Metro Training Manual and AFM.
On 30 June 2006 the operator amended the Metro checklist to add to the Line-up and Approach checklists the item "cross flow closed".
On 4 July 2006 the operator amended the autopilot Standard Operating Procedures section of the company Metro Training Manual to include two cautions on the use of the fuel cross flow switch.
On 27 February 2006 the TAIC recommended to the Director of Civil Aviation to amend the AFM, in concert with the United StatesFederal Aviation Administration, to include a limitation and caution that the autopilot and yaw damper must be disconnected while in-flight fuel balancing is done.
Referencesedit
^"Police name dead pilots of mail plane". NZ Herald. 2005-05-06. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
^. tvnz.co.nz. 4 May 2005. Archived from the original on 10 May 2006.
^Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III ZK-POA Stratford". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
^ ab"Fuel balancing led to crash". NZ Herald. 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
January 01, 1970
airwork, flight, zealand, post, cargo, flight, between, auckland, international, airport, nzaa, woodbourne, airport, nzwb, that, disintegrated, 2005, aircraft, involved, while, still, operation, with, child, flightaccidentdate3, 2005summarypilot, errorsitestra. Airwork Flight 23 was a New Zealand Post cargo flight between Auckland International Airport AKL NZAA and Woodbourne Airport BHE NZWB that disintegrated on 3 May 2005 2 3 Airwork Flight 23The aircraft involved while still in operation with Child FlightAccidentDate3 May 2005SummaryPilot errorSiteStratford New Zealand39 19 29 S 174 21 37 E 39 32472 S 174 36028 E 39 32472 174 36028AircraftAircraft typeFairchild SA227 AC Metro IIIOperatorAirworkRegistrationZK POA 1 Occupants2Passengers0Crew2Fatalities2Survivors0 Contents 1 History 2 Investigation 3 Aftermath 4 ReferencesHistory editIn command of the flight was 43 year old Captain Clive Adamson a relatively experienced pilot and line check captain with 6 500 total hours nearly half of them on the Metroliner Joining him was less experienced first officer 41 year old Anthony Drummond who had 2 300 flying hours but only 70 on the Metroliner which he had started flying earlier that year No one else was on board nor was there room since the entire cabin was full of palletized mail The aircraft was scheduled for take off at 9 00 P M local time but it was delayed while cargo was being loaded During the delay the pilots ordered an extra 570 litres 130 imp gal 150 US gal of fuel and told the person refueling to put all the fuel in the left wing fuel tank instead of splitting the fuel exactly between the two tanks as was company procedure The flight eventually took off at 9 36 P M local time Immediately after take off the autopilot was engaged and it controlled the aircraft during its climb to flight level 220 approximately 22 000 feet 6 700 m The flight was continued at full power instead of cruise setting to make up for lost time for the next fifteen minutes On powering down to cruise power the captain noticed imbalance between the fuel tanks and initiated cross flow procedures Shortly after at 10 13 P M local time the plane entered a spiral descent and broke up killing both pilots 4 Investigation editThe accident was investigated by the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission TAIC 5 It found that when the captain noted the fuel imbalance he said We ll just open the cross flow again sit on left ball and trim it accordingly He repeated the instruction five times in the next 19 seconds to which the co pilot replied I was being a bit cautious The captain said Don t be cautious mate it ll do it good 5 This resulted in the plane being flown at a large sideslip angle while still under autopilot control by means of the rudder trim mechanism Forty seven seconds after the cross flow was opened the captain said Doesn t like that one mate you d better grab it One second later they received a bank angle warning followed by a warning chime that was presumably a warning they were straying from their correct altitude The investigation came to the conclusion that this was due to the autopilot disengaging probably due to a servo reaching its torque limit This meant that there was no compensation applied for the rudder trim input and the plane entered a roll and steep descent disintegrating around flight level 199 The investigation found poor visibility at night in low cloud was a factor in preventing the pilots realizing sooner Aftermath editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message The following improvements were implemented as a result On 30 May 2005 the operator issued a Notice to Pilots advising that forthwith the SOP was to give the refueller the volume of fuel to be put into each wing tank to achieve a balanced load prior to engine start in accordance with the Pre Start checklist Metro Training Manual and AFM On 30 June 2006 the operator amended the Metro checklist to add to the Line up and Approach checklists the item cross flow closed On 4 July 2006 the operator amended the autopilot Standard Operating Procedures section of the company Metro Training Manual to include two cautions on the use of the fuel cross flow switch On 27 February 2006 the TAIC recommended to the Director of Civil Aviation to amend the AFM in concert with the United States Federal Aviation Administration to include a limitation and caution that the autopilot and yaw damper must be disconnected while in flight fuel balancing is done References edit Police name dead pilots of mail plane NZ Herald 2005 05 06 ISSN 1170 0777 Retrieved 2020 07 08 NZ Post plane explodes killing pilots tvnz co nz 4 May 2005 Archived from the original on 10 May 2006 Ranter Harro ASN Aircraft accident Swearingen SA227 AC Metro III ZK POA Stratford aviation safety net Aviation Safety Network Retrieved 2020 07 08 Autopilot Overload PDF Vector 5 2006 ISSN 1173 9614 a b Fuel balancing led to crash NZ Herald 2006 08 09 Retrieved 2019 08 28 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Airwork Flight 23 amp oldid 1208130395, 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