Accident to the De Havilland DHC6 registered F-OMYS operated by Caire on 24/08/2023 at Saint-Barthélemy
Runway veer-off during landing, collision with parked helicopter
During the landing, the nose wheel was not centred. This wheel was oriented to the left-hand side. When the nose wheel came into contact with the ground, the aeroplane deviated to the left. The PF was unable to correct this deviation despite his actions (rudder, ailerons and then asymmetric use of reverse thrust).
The aeroplane veered off the side of the runway and collided with a helicopter parked on the dedicated stand.
The crew were not aware of the modifications to the procedures for checking the Nose Wheel Steering (NWS) system after take-off and before landing which consisted of checking that the NWS was locked in the centred position. De Havilland had introduced them in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) for the DHC-6 series in 2017. These modifications were not included in the operator’s procedures which were an adaptation of the De Havilland procedures for
multi-pilot operations.
The NWS check after take-off and before landing was therefore not completely carried out, with the crew not making a manual input on the NWS lever to check that the NWS was locked in the centred position.
The tension in the NWS control cable was insufficient. It was not possible to determine the cause of this incorrect adjustment. The probable consequences of this was a situation where, on take-off, the NWS marks were aligned although the NWS was not locked in the centred position. As it was not locked, the nose wheel probably pivoted during the flight.
Final report: The BEA has issued 3 safety recommendations
The recommendations are being processed
The status of the recommendations is available at SRIS2: click here
Note: in accordance with the provisions of Article 17.3 of Regulation No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation, a safety recommendation in no case creates a presumption of fault or liability in an accident, serious incident or incident. The recipients of safety recommendations report to the issuing authority in charge of safety investigations, on the measures taken or being studied for their implementation, as provided for in Article 18 of the aforementioned regulation.