CAA ACCIDENT REPORT SUMMARY: CESSNA 414
Date of accident: March 1 2000
Time of accident: 1420Z
Aircraft registration: ZS-MDT
Type Of aircraft: Cessna 414
Pilot-in-command licence type: ATPL
Pilot-in-command flying experience: Total Flying Hours: 4580.3
Hours on Type: +/- 4
Last point of daparture: Gaberone (Botswana)
Next point of intended landing: Maun (Botswana)
Location of the accident site: 79.8nm SW of Pandamatenga
Meteorological information: Fine conditions
Number of people on board: 1+4
Number of people injured: 1+4
Number of people killed: 0
Synopsis
The flight originated in Lanseria to Gaborone without incident. Three more passengers joined the flight when it departed Gaborone at 1224Z, heading to Maun.
Approximately 1.5 hours into the flight, the pilot noticed oil leaking from the port engine followed by an oil pressure drop and a rise in oil temperature. He shut down the engine but started losing altitude; he opted to carry out a precautionary landing. The pilot discounted several possible landing areas and crash-landed in a dense forest. A post impact fire destroyed the aircraft. Five days later they were rescued. The aircraft was purchased by the pilot three days prior to the accident. Although the pilot stated that the aircraft was on a private flight, there is evidence that the clients paid a certain amount of money towards the flight. During the on-site investigation, the oil cap of the port engine could not be located. It was also established that the pilot flew the aircraft without a valid Certificate of Airworthiness.
Probable Cause
The cause of the accident was attributed to failure by the pilot to control the aircraft after shutting down the port engine, which was spewing oil.
Jim’s analysis
There’s all sorts of stuff going on here. And of course we only have a quarter of the story. This means that I have to make some hopefully intelligent guesses about things that are not said, and try to make sense of some very peculiar things that are said.
For instance, according to the book this aeroplane has a single engine ceiling of 11,000ft. So why couldn’t they maintain 4000ft - the heighest ground around? Okay, if it was a seriously hot day, say +40°, the density altitude at the surface would be 8000ft. They should have been able to carry on to Maun, unless they were overloaded and/or flying at very low level when he shut down the engine.
This is a pressurised aircraft flying over the desert in the middle of the day in the heat of summer. Surely an intelligent pilot tries to keep above the turbulence. I guess flight level 120 or 140 would have been great. If he had been at those sort of heights he would easily have reached Maun on one engine even if he used a slow drift-down so as not to overwork the good engine.
And then why did he fly past several suitable landing areas before crashing in the trees? And why did he cross the main road and fly so far north of Maun when he was coming from the south-east? That road is a life-saver. Sensible pilots keep it in gliding distance, or at least in sight for the whole flight. By leaving that corridor he basically threw away his chances of being found.
Then we come to the business of the oil cap. If they are put on properly they don’t come off. A 4500 hour pilot should know that you don’t trust anyone to put on fuel or oil caps. You are the pilot in command - damn well be in command. Don’t leave your life in the hands of others.
Think about it - there were plenty of contributing reasons for the crash, but the direct cause of it was that the person who put on the oil cap didn’t put it on. He very nearly caused five people to die a slow death in the desert.
Finally we come to the legality of the whole operation. CAA had their reservations about a private flight generating income, as well as the fact that the aircraft didn’t have a valid C of A. It doesn’t prove anything, but it points to a shoddy operator who is likely to cut corners and come unstuck.
What can we learn?
• On hot days try to be on the ground at the other end before 1000.
• If you are flying over the desert or the sea, altitude is money in the bank.
• Over the desert stick to roads like glue.
• Always do the oil and the fuel yourself.
• If you see some corner cutting there is probably a whole lot more you don’t see.
Jim Davis has 15,000 hours of immensely varied flying experience,
including 10,000 hours civil and military flying instruction. He is an
established author, his current projects being an instructors’ manual
and a collection of Air Accident analyses, called Choose Not To Crash. Visit Jim's website by clicking here.
Subscribe to Australian Flying to read more.