Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h1>Preliminary Reports</h1>
<h2>Close Call for King Air, A319 at KDCA</h2>
<h3>Beechcraft King Air 300, Airbus A319, May 29, 2024, Washington, D.C.</h3>
<p>The King Air turboprop twin was landing on and the Airbus airliner taking off from intersecting runways at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) when they narrowly averted a ground collision. The A319—operating as American Airlines Flight 2134—was cleared by ATC to depart on Runway 1, conflicting with the King Air, registered as N205AA, that was inbound for intersecting Runway 33.</p>
<p>According to the NTSB, the air traffic controller initially cleared the King Air to land on Runway 33 while the A319 was instructed to line up and wait on Runway 1. Then, the American Airlines flight was cleared for takeoff while the King Air was on short final. Readback of ATC instructions was correct for both aircraft.</p>
<p>The controller canceled the takeoff clearance for Flight 2134 and requested the King Air to go around. Flight 2134’s crew successfully rejected the takeoff; the King Air crew stated it had already touched down and could not go around. The aircraft did not collide, and no injuries were reported on either aircraft. The American Airlines crew requested a maintenance inspection after the incident and then departed several hours later. Preliminary reviews indicate a moderate traffic volume and clear weather conditions at the time of the May 29 incident.</p>
<p>Similar incidents at KDCA and other airports across the U.S. have been raising significant safety concerns. As authorities continue to examine the incident, the FAA, industry experts, and safety advocates are calling for an urgent review of air traffic management protocols at the busy airport to prevent future occurrences.</p>
<h2>One Drowned in River Impact</h2>
<h3>Bell 206B, Sept. 7, 2024, King Salmon, Alaska</h3>
<p>The helicopter crashed into the Naknak River during a special VFR departure from King Salmon Airport. One of the four passengers on the Part 135 charter flight was unable to escape the sunken wreckage and drowned.</p>
<p>Prevailing weather was reported as one-quarter mile visibility in fog under a 200-foot indefinite ceiling with southerly winds at five knots.</p>
<p>The flight was intended to take the passengers to a fishing camp south of the airport. The pilot requested and received clearance to depart under special VFR and was instructed to report once clear of Class D airspace.</p>
<p>Shortly after the helicopter’s departure, the tower controller received a telephone report that it had crashed into the river. The pilot later reported “encountering an area of dense fog while flying over the very calm water” in which he lost all visual references.</p>
<h2>Passenger Successfully Lands King Air</h2>
<h3>Raytheon C90A, Oct. 4, 2024, Bakersfield, California</h3>
<p>With assistance from air traffic control, a front-seat passenger without formal flight training took the controls and made a successful emergency landing after the King Air’s pilot suffered an incapacitating medical event.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The flight was en route from Henderson (Nevada) Executive Airport to Monterey (California) Regional Airport at FL 200 when the pilot lost consciousness.</p>
<p>The passenger, identified in press accounts as the pilot’s wife, attempted CPR before contacting Southern California ARTCC, which provided navigational assistance. After landing the airplane rolled into the overrun area of Kern County Meadows Field’s Runway 30R and came to a stop without damage. The pilot was hospitalized but did not survive.</p>
<h2>Three Perish Attempting Off-airport Approach</h2>
<h3>Bell 206L3+, Oct. 7, 2024, Owenton, Kentucky</h3>
<p>The pilot, flight nurse, and flight medic were killed when the helicopter struck a guy wire supporting a 601-foot-high television transmission tower.</p>
<p>The Part 135 air medical flight arrived at the designated landing zone next to a high school at 17:24 and was advised that the fire units tasked with preparing the site were still en route. The pilot responded that he would circle until the landing zone was prepared. At 17:29, he reported the high school in sight and advised that he would perform “a couple of recons, and then head down.”</p>
<p>Witnesses saw the helicopter approach at “low altitude” from the north and strike the wire. “Pieces,” specifically the main rotor, separated from the helicopter before both fell to the ground. ADS-B data showed the helicopter approaching the tower on a ground track of 210 degrees at about 350 feet above ground level. At the time, the sun was 18 degrees above the horizon at an azimuth of 246 degrees.</p>
<p>The 19,638-hour airline transport pilot held privileges for helicopter and multiengine airplane, with multiple type ratings. He had logged 7,791 hours in type. The helicopter was equipped with a Garmin 650 GPS, a Garmin 500txi cockpit display with synthetic vision, and a helicopter terrain awareness and warning system. These had the capacity to provide the crew with both visual and aural warnings of obstructions and terrain.</p>
<h1>Final Reports</h1>
<h2>Four Escape Wire Strike Unharmed</h2>
<h3>Airbus Helicopters AS350B1, Sept. 6, 2021, Kvæfjord Municipality, Troms County, Norway</h3>
<p>The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority concluded that “only coincidence…and the captain’s maneuvering after he became aware of it” prevented a fatal accident when the helicopter struck unmarked power lines during a scheduled inspection flight.</p>
<p>The pilot saw the lines—which had already been inspected earlier in the flight—in time to raise collective but too late to avoid impact. The middle cable was lifted over the northernmost before being cut by a main rotor blade.</p>
<p>The blade “was not critically damaged” and the flight controls remained operational, enabling the pilot to make a successful emergency landing. The helicopter sustained damage to its skids, main rotor, and tail boom, but there were no injuries to any of the four on board.</p>
<h2>Passenger, Crew Accounts of Hard Landing Differ</h2>
<h3>Learjet 55, Feb. 11, 2023, Rochester, New York</h3>
<p>The pilots’ account of a “firm” landing that was “not exceptionally so” was flatly contradicted not only by passengers but also by physical evidence on the runway itself.</p>
<p>The pilot said that after the Part 91 flight from Palm Beach (Florida) International Airport touched down, the crew could “tell something was wrong as the aircraft was leaning to the left.” After deplaning, they “found the left strut assembly collapsed, damage to the attach point, damage to the left wing, and damage to the fuel tank.” There were no injuries to either pilot or any of the four passengers.</p>
<p>A passenger told investigators that she heard just before touchdown: “too fast, too fast, which sounded like a person.” She said the airplane “slammed onto the runway” so hard that “the oxygen masks deployed, compartments inside the airplane opened, and the baby started screaming” and bounced into the air.</p>
<p>The landing that followed was “very bumpy.” The captain was “apologizing profusely” as they deplaned, and they were “rushed to their van because the airplane was leaking fuel.” Airport firefighters contained a leak estimated at 25 gallons and reported a “trail of fuel” leading from Runway 28 to the ramp.</p>
<p>In “nearly identical” written statements to the NTSB and their insurance company, both pilots said that the left wing was low during the departure roll, which they corrected with aileron. Surveillance footage showed the jet taxiing “in a level attitude, no damage to the wings…evident, and…not leaking any fluids.” While the copilot reported landing in the touchdown zone, investigators found skid marks consistent with the left main gear tires that began 110 feet before the displaced threshold, with “fractured parts…scattered over and beyond the ground scars and tire markings.” Surveillance footage showed that the airplane flew 270 feet between its initial bounce and eventual landing.</p>
<p>Both crew members held airline transport pilot certificates. The 53-year-old pilot reported 13,550 flight hours including 300 in the Learjet 55. The 59-year-old copilot reported 17,000 hours but just 30 in the accident make and model, for which he did not hold a type rating.</p>
<p>The NTSB cited as probable cause: “The pilots’ failure to attain a proper landing flare and touchdown point, which resulted in a hard landing short of the runway.” ζ</p>


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