British BAE-3101 N411AE

Summary

On 25 March 1988 at about 14:30 local time, a British BAE-3101 registered N411AE, operated by Chaparral Airlines, was involved in an accident near Decatur, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 March 1988 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Decatur, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.3491, -97.6905

Aircraft

British BAE-3101

Registration

N411AE

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Chaparral Airlines

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wichita Falls → Dallas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW88MA083

Nobody was injured.

AIRPLANE'S ENCOUNTER WITH ROUGHT TERRAIN DURING AN ATTEMPTED FORCED LANDING. THE FORCED LANDING WAS NECESSITATED AFTER THE CAPTAIN USED IMPROPER PROCEDURES TO SHUTDOWN THE LEFT ENGINE IN FLIGHT FOLLOWING AN UNEXPLAINED TORQUE FLUCTUATION.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE COPLT WAS FLYING THE ACFT AS IT WAS BEING FERRIED AFTER MINOR MAINTENANCE. AS THEY WERE IN A DESCENT AND WERE APCHG THE DESTN ARPT, THE CAPT NOTED A LEFT ENG TORQUE FLUCTUATION OF 20% TO 30% & ELECTED TO SECURE THE ENG, ALTHOUGH NO YAWING WAS NOTICED. DRG SHUTDOWN, THE LEFT PROP DID NOT FEATHER & DRAG INCREASED UNTIL THE ACFT WOULD NOT SUSTAIN LEVEL FLT. AN ATTEMPTED RESTART OF THE LEFT ENG WAS UNSUCCESSFUL, SO THE CAPT TRIED TO FEATHER IT AGAIN. HOWEVER, THE LEFT PROP STILL DID NOT FEATHER. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE PLTS WERE FORCED TO LAND IN AN OPEN FIELD ON UNEVEN TERRAIN & THE ACFT WAS DAMAGED. AN EXTENSIVE INVESTIGATION WAS MADE, BUT NO CAUSE COULD BE FOUND FOR THE TORQUE FLUCTUATION, NOR COULD THE CONDITION BE DUPLICATED, HOWEVER, THE INVESTIGATION DID NOTE THAT THE AIR & GROUND PROCEDURES FOR ENG SHUTDOWN WERE SIMILAR. A VARIATION IN THE GROUND SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES ALLOWED FOR ENGAGEMENT OF THE START LATCHES.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.