Bombardier CL-600-2B19 N595SW
18 January 2004 · Rapid City, South Dakota, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 18 January 2004 at about 05:11 local time, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 registered N595SW, operated by Skywest Airlines Inc, was involved in an incident near Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. 35 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 05:11
- Classification
- Incident
- Location
- Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
- Nearest airport
- Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP)
- Coordinates
- 44.0453, -103.0572
- Aircraft
- Bombardier CL-600-2B19
- Registration
- N595SW
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Skywest Airlines Inc
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Salt Lake City → Rapid City
- Aircraft damage
- Minor
- Weather
- IMC
- Light
- Night
- NTSB number
- CHI04IA056
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
Probable cause
The copilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during the landing and the captain's delay in initiating remedial action. Factors contributing to the accident were the low ceiling and low visibility due to fog, and the aircraft's deviation from expected performance due to airframe icing.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The airplane, being operated on a scheduled passenger flight, contacted the runway with the left wing tip, following a loss of control while landing. Weather conditions were varying due to freezing fog that was moving into and out of the area. The control tower at the destination airport was closed and the airplane was being controlled by a near-by approach control facility. After holding in-flight to wait for the weather to improve, the crew began the instrument landing system (ILS) approach when the visibility was reported as one-half mile. The captain stated that almost immediately upon entering the top of the fog layer they received an ICE caution message. He stated they turned on the wing and engine inlet anti-ice, but the ice accumulation on the windshield wipers was rapid and ice was accumulating on the winglet. The captain stated the approach lights came into sight when they were just above minimums and that he had the runway in sight at approximately 140 feet above the ground. The first officer then disconnected the autopilot and the nose came up slightly. He stated he informed the first officer to keep the nose down and add thrust. The captain stated they were slightly left of the centerline and the first officer was making "small" corrections back to the right. He stated the airspeed was just inside the "bottom of the bucket" and the trend vector was indicating a decrease in airspeed. The captain stated he "again said something about more thrust and keeping the nose down." He stated the airplane continued to move to the right of the centerline and he took control of the airplane. He stated the airplane responded "poorly" feeling "heavy and sluggish." The captain stated the airplane was close to the right side of the runway and he added thrust at which time the ailerons became more responsive. He stated the left wing dropped, scraping the runway, at about the same time the left main gear touched down. The captain stated the airplane bounced into the air then landed hard on the runway. The crew then taxied the airplane to the gate. The first officer stated that when the captain reported having the runway in sight, she transitioned her sight outside of the airplane and realized she needed to correct to the right. She stated she began the correction at which time the nose of the airplane pitched up, the airplane veered toward the correction, and it started sinking toward the right side of the runway. She stated the captain took over the controls, but the airplane dropped to the runway, bounced, and touched down harder the second time. The first officer, who was flying the approach, had about 15 hours of total flight time in the CL-600. The captain, who was also a check airman, had a total of 1,196 hours of flight time in the CL-600. At the time of the accident the local weather was reported as being visibility 1/4 mile in freezing fog, vertical visibility 100 feet. Inspection of the airport and airplane on the afternoon following the incident revealed ice was still visible on the antennas, windshield wipers, radome, winglets, and horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The main body of ice on these structures measured between one-half to five-eights of an inch thick and that the main body of ice plus the "ice spines" totaled three-quarters of an inch thick. A Kinematic parameter extraction showed loss of lift consistent with airframe icing but there was no early stall due to icing prior to touchdown and no indication that airframe icing had caused any loss of control. Marks on the ground and on the runway revealed the airplane initially touched down 1,976 feet from the approach end of the runway with the right main landing gear in the grass off the side of the runway. The left wing tip then left a 63-foot long scrape mark on the runway, which was followed about 1,100 feet later by another set of tire marks. Data from the flight data recorder showed the airplane rolled slightly to the left followed by a roll to the right when the autopilot was disengaged. It then showed the airplane touched down with a vertical acceleration of at least 1.8g's. The airplane then became airborne in a 16-degree left bank, with a 5-degree nose up pitch at which time the ground and flight spoilers deployed contributing to the firmness of the 3.25 g touchdown one second later.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Bombardier CL-600 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jul 2004 | Bombardier CL-600 | Snow Hill, Virginia, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 29 Dec 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2C10 | Austin, Texas, United States | Mesa Airlines, Inc. | Serious injuries | - |
| 11 Apr 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2C10 | Denver, Colorado, United States | Horizon Air | No injuries | - |
| 27 Oct 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2B19 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | Mesa Airlines Inc | Minor injuries | - |
| 17 Apr 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2B19 | Colorado Spring, Colorado, United States | Mesa Airlines, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 28 Nov 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2A12 | Montrose, Colorado, United States | Air Castle Corporation | Fatal | 3 |
Other accidents in this area
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Jul 2004 | Pzl-Mielec M-18T | Pine Ridge, South Dakota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 31 Jul 2004 | Piper PA-28-140 | Custer, South Dakota, United States | Flight Training Adventure Camps | No injuries | - |
| 29 Sep 2004 | Arganbright VANS RV-4 | Custer, South Dakota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 23 Jun 2004 | Air Tractor AT-401 | Britton, South Dakota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 4 Dec 2004 | Cessna 182P | Belle Fourche, South Dakota, United States | Aero Flight Training | Minor injuries | - |
| 8 Jul 2004 | Aerostar S53H | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | - | No injuries | - |