Britten-Norman BN-2A-9 N821RR

Summary

On 15 February 2022 at about 13:55 local time, a Britten-Norman BN-2A-9 registered N821RR, operated by Air Charter Inc DBA, was involved in an accident near Culebra, United States. 3 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

15 February 2022 at 13:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Culebra, United States

Nearest airport

Benjamin Rivera Noriega (CPX)

Coordinates

18.3133, -65.3041

Aircraft

Britten-Norman BN-2A-9

Registration

N821RR

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

Air Charter Inc DBA

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Juan → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA123

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew’s failure to arrest the descent rate during the non-standard approach, which resulted in a hard landing and failure of the right-wing structure. Contributing was the flight instructor’s selection of a challenging approach for initial training.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was receiving flight training as a new hire, and the accident occurred during his first flight in the airplane and the first landing. The pilot stated the approach was flown at the upper end of the allowable approach speed, and about 100 ft above the normal glidepath. During the landing, all three of the airplane’s landing gear touched down at the same time, the airplane immediately veered right, and continued off the right side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing structure. The flight instructor chose an airport with a challenging approach that required a special training program prior to the first landing. The approach procedure requires a left 40° turn then rolling wings level just before touchdown. It is likely that the airplane’s descent rate during landing exceeded the airplane’s capability, which resulted in a hard landing and failure of the right-wing structure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.