Accident to the DHC6 – 300 off the coast of the island of Moorea (French Polynesia) on 9 August 2007

On Thursday 9 August 2007 at 12 h 00 local time, the Air Moorea Twin Otter DHC6-300 registered F-OIQI which carried out the Moorea-Papeete route crashed at sea shortly after takeoff. The nineteen passengers and the pilot did not survive. 

The BEA launched a technical investigation and is sending a four-man team to Polynesia. On the spot, a Field Investigator has been nominated to undertake the initial investigative actions in coordination with the judicial authorities.

A team of four, including the investigator-in-charge, arrived in French Polynesia on the morning of Saturday 11 August 2007.

In compliance with international provisions, an accredited Canadian representative has been assigned to the investigation as the State of Design and Manufacture of the airplane. Subsequently, since some information was requested from the USA, the nomination of an accredited representative was accepted.

Operations on the site or on the wreck were carried out in liaison with the investigation judiciary officers under the coordination of the High-Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia.

The investigator-in-charge set up three working groups in the following areas: 

• Airplane operations,
• Maintenance and background,
• Recorder and technical examinations.

On 9 October 2007, a safety recommendation was issued for the attention of the European Air Safety Agency and Transport Canada.

An interim report was published on 6 December 2007. 

The Draft Final Report was submitted to the accredited Canadian and American representatives for comments. The operator and the French DGAC were also consulted, in compliance with the provisions of article L.731-3 of the French Civil Aviation Code.

The Final Report was presented to the families of the victims gathered in Papeete and to the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia, on 3 December 2008, before being made public the same day.

Summary of the accident

The accident occurred on Thursday 9 August 2007 at midday, local time.

The Air Moorea DHC6-300, registered F-OIQI, took off from Moorea for a short flight, QE 1121, bound for Tahiti Faa'a. A pilot and nineteen passengers were on board. The plane climbed as normal to an estimated altitude of three hundred and fifty feet. The pilot retracted the flaps and adjusted the engine parameters. He then lost pitch control of the airplane after the failure of the elevator pitch-up control cable. The airplane dived and struck the surface of the sea at about seven hundred metres from the shore.

Note: two cables, one pitch-up, the other pitch-down, control the elevator. The failure of one cable makes it impossible to control the elevator directly.