11th of May 2012, Speed, Blog #703

Just over 13 years ago today, a Convair CV-580 was operating a cargo flight from Miami (Florida, USA) to Guatemala with a crew of two. The takeoff from Miami International Airport and the flight towards Guatemala City—La Aurora Airport were uneventful.

The aircraft in its final position ( Source & © DGAC)

The weather for the approach and landing was good that day;

• Wind - 180° at 10 knots

• Clouds - Broken at 2000 feet

• Temperature - 24°C

• Dewpoint - 16°C

• QNH - 1023 hPa

As the aircraft approached Runway 19 at Guatemala, the speed was higher than planned. Both the Captain and the First Officer remarked about this but did not immediately take corrective action. The approach was continued at the higher speed. After receiving landing clearance the aircraft touched down on its main landing gear, bouncing several times. The nose gear also bounced several times, which resulted in stresses bigger than the design limits, failing the nose landing gear which folded backwards. The nose section of the aircraft contacted the runway and the aircraft slid to a halt. Both propellers contacted the runway, resulting in the left-hand propeller being torn from its gearbox and slicing to the upper fuselage. After coming to a stop the crew shut down and evacuated the aircraft. There were no injuries.

Repairs underway in November 2012 (Source https://www.ruudleeuw.com © unknown)

Damage to the aircraft was extensive;

• Nose Landing Gear folded backwards

• Abrasion damage to the nose section of the aircraft

• Damaged right-hand propeller

• Left-hand propeller torn from its mounts

• The upper fuselage sliced open by the left-hand propeller

The accident was investigated by the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil, DGAC of Guatemala. They concluded that the probable causes of the accident were;

The aircraft performed its approach at a higher speed than that established in the Flight Manual procedures, this was confirmed by CVR data. The pilot and the first officer communicated about it and did not reduce or try to reduce the approach speed too late and at the time of landing and touchdown on the runway, at a very high speed, causing several bounces of the nose landing gear on the runway, in addition to bouncing with the main gear."

After extensive repairs, the aircraft was returned to flying condition.

** Editorial note **

V2 Aviation - Training & Maintenance has not been able to obtain an investigation report in English on this accident. This blog is therefore based on several internet sources. Should there be inconsistencies in the blog don't hesitate to get in touch with us. There are two possibilities to do that, via the comments function at the bottom of this page or via the contact page of the website.