About 2326 e.s.t. on December 12, 1976, an Atlantic City Airlines, Inc., DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, operating as Allegheny Commuter Flight 977, crashed about 4,000 feet short of the approach end of runway 19 at Cape May County Airport, New Jersey. The flight was making a VOR approach to runway 23 with a circle to land on runway 19. Of the 10 persons aboard, 4 died of injuries received in the crash. The aircraft was destroyed. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flightcrew's lack of altitude awareness during a circling approach which permitted the aircraft's flightpath to deviate below a safe approach profile. The aircraft's rate of descent and descent flightpath angle increased as a result of wind shear encountered during the visual approach below minimum descent altitude. The flightcrew did not recognize these flightpath deviations because they were relying on visual references which were degraded by nonhomogeneous fog and on kinesthetic cues which were adversely affected by the aircraft's forward center of gravity resulting from the improperly loaded aircraft. Contributing to the accident was the lack of company procedures requiring altitude-callouts during the visual portion of an instrument approach.


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    Title :

    Aircraft Accident Report - Atlantic City Airlines, Inc., DeHavilland DHC-6, Twin Otter, N101AC, Cape May County Airport, New Jersey, December 12, 1976


    Publication date :

    1977


    Size :

    31 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English