American Eagle Flight 5401
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 The aftermath of Flight 5401 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 9, 2004 |
| Summary | Crashed on landing |
| Site | Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Aircraft | |
 Similar aircraft to the one involved | |
| Aircraft type | ATR 72-212 |
| Operator | Executive Airlines (on behalf of American Eagle Airlines) |
| Call sign | EAGLE 401 |
| Registration | N438AT |
| Flight origin | Eugenio María de Hostos Airport, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico |
| Destination | Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Occupants | 26 |
| Passengers | 22 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 20 |
| Survivors | 26 |
American Eagle Flight 5401, operating as Executive Airlines Flight 5401, was a domestic passenger flight from Mayaguez-Eugenio M. de Hostos Airport to San Juan-Luis Munoz Marin International Airport. During the landing process, the ATR 72 operating the flight crashed and was damaged substantially. 20 of the 26 people onboard were injured.
The cause of the accident was the captain's failure to recover from the bounced landing and failure to execute a go-around. Othter indicated safety issues in the investigation included the lack of company guidance and training for bounced landing recovery and malfunctioning flight data recorder sensors.
The accident let more awereness of "bounced landing recovery techniques" that wasn't before part in the pilot training and simulator training of multiple airlines and was in September 2004 implemented into the Airplane Operating Manual.
Background
[edit]Aircraft
[edit]The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1995, was an ATR 72-212 registered as N438AT with serial number 438. In its nine years of service, it had logged 19,276 airframe hours in 18,086 takeoff and landing cycles. It was also powered by two four-blade propellers Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127 engines. The aircraft had a maximum capacity of 64 passengers.[1][2][3]: 18–19
Crew
[edit]In command was a 33-year-old captain who was hired by Executive Airlines on January 11, 1999, and had logged 6071 hours of flying time, including 3814 logged on the ATR 42/72 aircraft owned by Executive Airlines. His co-pilot was a 26-year-old first officer who was hired by Executive Airlines on February 10, 2004. He had logged about 2000 hours of flying time, including 20 logged on the ATR 42/72 aircraft owned by Executive Airlines.[3]: 15–16
Accident
[edit]During approach to runway eight at San Juan, the captain and the first officer agreed that the minimum approach speed would be 95 knots. The air traffic control alerted the flight of possible wake turbulence of a departing Boeing 727, and soon gave it clearance to land.[3]: 11
Upon touchdown, the aircraft bounced. The captain, who was monitoring the co-pilot at the time of landing, took control of the aircraft from the first officer, who was the pilot flying. The aircraft bounced a second time at about 1,600 feet (490 m) away from the runway threshold. Six seconds later, the plane bounced on the runway a third time with a left tilt of about 7°. Five seconds later and 15 seconds after the first touchdown, the aircraft bounced a fourth time, this time on grass, with a left tilt of about 29°. The aircraft slid and came to a complete stop about 217 feet (66 m) at the left side of the runway and 4,317 feet (1,316 m) away from the runway threshold.[3]
Just before impact a flight attendant prevented potential fatalities by announcing to the passengers in the cabin, "Brace position, please. This is an emergency.".[4]
Aftermath
[edit]A team of city rescuers were practicing on Balneario De Carolina, a nearby beach located one block away from the airport and ran to the scene of the accident to provide help to the passengers and crew, with the airport's fire-and-rescue team later helping in the operation. 20 people sustained injuries. 13 people were hospitalized, including the captain who was seriously injured. They were taken to hospitals in the Carolina area and to Centro Médico Episcopal San Lucas, in Río Piedras.[2][5][3]
It was later discovered that the pilots were inexperienced with bounced landing recovery techniques. It was not a formalized part of the airlines' pilot training and none of the instruction manuals contained information pertaining to bounced landing recovery. After further investigation via surveys it became known that only a few airlines included bounced landing recovery techniques in their trainings and manuals. In September 2004 bounced landing recovery techniques were incorporated into the Airplane Operating Manual of Executive Airlines.[3]
Investigation
[edit]The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was the captain's failure to recover from the bounced landing and his subsequent failure to execute a go-around. The NTSB also identified safety issues related to flight crew performance, the lack of company guidance and training for bounced landing recovery and malfunctioning flight data recorder sensors. Safety recommendations were issued to the Federal Aviation Administration concerning these issues.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Accident ATR 72-212 N438AT, Sunday 9 May 2004". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
- ^ a b "American Eagle flights skids off runway in Puerto Rico". www.mrt.com. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "N438AT Final Report" (PDF). asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- ^ Rivera Melendez, Laura (May 9, 2004). "Passenger says flight attendant issued warning before crash landing in Puerto Rico". myplainview.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
- ^ "EXECUTIVE AIRLINES flight MQ5401 - Aviation Accident Database". May 9, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
External links
[edit]- NTSB video of the accident, via YouTube
