Israel 1125 WESTWIND ASTRA N765A

Summary

On 24 July 2015 at about 00:45 local time, a Israel 1125 WESTWIND ASTRA registered N765A, operated by Mountain Air Services LLC, was involved in an accident near Baltimore, Maryland, United States. 7 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

24 July 2015 at 00:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Baltimore/Washington Intl Thur (BWI)

Coordinates

39.1742, -76.6714

Aircraft

Israel 1125 WESTWIND ASTRA

Registration

N765A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1986

Engines

2

Operator

Mountain Air Services LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Baltimore → Chicago

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ERA15LA292

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew's failure to visually ensure that the cabin door locking pin was in place before takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After the passengers boarded the airplane, the pilot monitoring closed the cabin door and stated that he visually checked that the main entry door was secure and locked. Throughout the start, taxi, and takeoff procedures the CABIN DOOR and CABIN DOOR SEAL lights were not illuminated. Then, immediately after takeoff, the flight crew identified that the CABIN DOOR, CABIN DOOR SEAL, and MASTER CAUTION lights were illuminated. During the return to the airport for landing, the main entry door opened. The crew subsequently declared an emergency and landed uneventfully. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the door and airframe during the landing; the passengers and crew were not injured. Examination of the door and the locking mechanisms revealed that when the door was latched with the locking pin in the stirrup, the door was secured. However, when the locking pin was resting on the stirrup, and not in the stirrup, the CABIN DOOR warning light would not illuminate. The light would illuminate on the warning annunciator when the locking mechanism was pulled away from and not in contact with the stirrup. Furthermore, the self-locking air springs on the door did not function. Without the self-locking feature, the door lacked a secondary safety feature that could have prevented the accident. It is likely that when the pilot monitoring closed the cabin door, the locking pin rested on the stirrup and did not fully engage, and the pilot monitoring did not visually check that the locking mechanism was secure in the stirrup. Since the CABIN DOOR light would not illuminate if the locking pin was resting on the stirrup, the crew was not alerted to the unsecured position of the main entry door. According to maintenance records, the most recent inspection of the door and its locking mechanism was completed about one month before the accident. It could not be determined whether the failure of the air springs occurred before the most recent inspection and was not identified, or if the failure occurred after the inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.