Crossair Flight 850
Encyclopedia
Crossair
Flight 850 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Basle, Switzerland
, to Hamburg
, Germany
. On 10 July 2002, the flight was unable to land at Fuhlsbüttel Airport due to weather. Attempts were made to divert to other airports at Berlin
and Eberswalde
before the crew decided to land at Werneuchen
. On landing, the aircraft struck an earth bank which ripped off all three undercarriage legs, and came to rest on its belly with an engine on fire. One of the sixteen passengers suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was written off.
The investigation into the accident by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) took over eight years to complete. It raised a number of issues, including poor crew resource management
, insufficient weather information being passed to the crew of Flight 850 and faulty runway markings at Werneuchen Airfield, where the runway had been reduced in length from 2400 metres (7,874 ft) to 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft), but the runway markings had not been altered to reflect this.
, registered HB-IZY, and named Doldenhorn
, after a 3643 metres (11,952.1 ft) high mountain in Switzerland. The aircraft was msn 047 and had first flown on 30 April 1997. At the time of the accident, it had completed 12,303 hours of flight and made 12,069 landings.
(Zulu Time), local time was two hours ahead of UTC.
Flight 850 was originally scheduled to be operated by an Embraer 145
aircraft. Due to the non-availability of the Embraer 145, a Saab 2000
was substituted, and the briefing for the flight was extended by 15 minutes. Actual departure was at 15:55 UTC, 10 minutes later than the scheduled departure time. Weather reports indicated a line of thunderstorms, winds up to 45 knots (88.2 km/h) could be expected at Fuhlsbüttel and the designated alternatives of Hannover and Bremen. A number of SIGMET
s were issued about an hour before the flight departed Basle, but the flight crew did not receive these. The SIGMETs indicated a front was developing with thunderstorms reaching FL380
in the Bremen area. The flight was scheduled to take-off from Basle Airport at 14:45. It carried four crew and 16 passengers. The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast
for Fuhlsbüttel Airport, Hamburg
valid from 13:00 to 22:00 was: TAF EDDH 101200Z 101322 31010KT 9999 FEW025 TEMPO 1320 29020G40KT 3000 TSRA BKN013CB
Tempo 1922 4000 RA BKN014.
Runway 23 was the active runway at Fuhlsbüttel. On approach to land, the flight encountered severe turbulence due to a thunderstorm
and the crew aborted the approach as the aircraft descended through 3300 feet (1,005.8 m). It was later established that a derecho
had formed. Winds of 81 knots (158.7 km/h) were recorded, and seven people were killed in the Berlin area. The storm was described as the worst summer storm in 50 years in Berlin. The crew decided to hold while they assessed their alternatives. The designated alternative airport was Bremen Airport
, some 55 nautical miles (101.9 km) away. To reach Bremen would have meant flying through a frontal system. Another aircraft successfully landed on Runway 33 at Hamburg, reporting strong winds. The crew of Flight 580 declined to attempt a landing on Runway 23, and requested a diversion to Langenhagen Airport, Hannover. Air Traffic Control
(ATC) did not suggest any other alternatives, nor were they requested by the crew.
En route, the frontal system prevented the crew from turning towards Hannover. A decision was made to divert to Tegel Airport, Berlin
. The Automatic Terminal Information Service
at Tegel stated that the weather there was clear and no significant change was expected. Approaching Tegel's Runway 08L, the crew requested priority handling, stating that they had fuel for 40 minutes flight. On approach, severe turbulence was again encountered due to the frontal system having reached Berlin. The approach was abandoned and the crew requested an alternate airfield from ATC. Eberswalde Airfield was suggested and accepted by the crew, who stated "We'll take anything at this point". On hearing this remark, ATC treated the aircraft's situation as an emergency. En route to Eberswalde
, thunderstorms were observed and alternates were sought from ATC.
Hamburg ATC then offered Neubrandenburg Airport
, which was rejected by the crew of Flight 850 on receiving the weather information. Werneuchen Airfield was then offered, which was 20 nautical miles (37 km) away and offered a runway 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) long. Werneuchen was accepted by the crew. ATC managed to contact the chairman of the flying club based at Werneuchen. He stated that the runway surface was 2400 metres (7,874 ft) long, but an earth bank stretched across the runway leaving 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) available. Landing on Runway 08 meant that the first part of the runway fell before the earth bank. Almost an hour after aborting the approach to Fuhlsbüttel, Flight 850 began its approach to Werneuchen. The crew reported that they were visual with the runway and were advised by Werneuchen ATC that they needed to land on the eastern part of Runway 08. When Flight 850 turned onto its final approach, the captain remarked that the runway was "longer than Berne", and told the first officer to land wherever he wanted. Although the closed off part of the runway had been marked as such, the markings had weathered severely over the years, meaning that the original markings were easier to see than those that actually applied. Fading light and a lack of runway lighting contributed to the inability of the crew to see the earth bank.
The first officer landed the aircraft at what appeared to be the runway threshold. It then came in contact with the earth bank which ripped off all three undercarriage legs and the aircraft slid to a halt on its belly. The fire alarm for the port engine sounded, and the crew performed fire drills on both engines. One female passenger injured her leg. The wrecked aircraft was initially stored but was later declared as damaged beyond economic repair and was subsequently scrapped.
The METAR
s for both Tegel and Schönefeld airports showed CAVOK and NOSIG, which was harshly criticised by the BFU. At 17:50, this METAR was issued at Tegel Airport: EDDT 04001KT CAVOK 30/17 Q1002 A2959 0998 2947 NOSIG. At the time, the cold front was 30 kilometres (16.2 nmi) south west of Tegel, and had moved 100 kilometres (54 nmi) in the previous hour. The BFU was of the opinion that NOSIG should not have been in the METAR, and that a SPECI would have been required. At 18:20, a new METAR was issued at Tegel: EDDT VRB01KT 9999 FEW040CB SCT120 BKN260 29/17 Q1002 A2959 0998 2947 TEMPO 27025G55KT 2000 +TSRA BKN009 BKN015CB COMMENTS: OCNL LTNG AND CB SW OF STN. This METAR was issued two minutes before Flight 850 began its approach to Tegel.
The decision to abort the approach to Fuhlsbüttel was supported by the BFU, but not the decision to divert to Hannover. The decision to divert to Tegel was supported by the BFU, based on the incorrect information given to the crew of CAVOK and NOSIG at Tegel. On approach to Werneuchen, ATC did not use correct terminology. It also found that the runway markings at Werneuchen did not conform to the required standard.
Crossair
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...
Flight 850 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Basle, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. On 10 July 2002, the flight was unable to land at Fuhlsbüttel Airport due to weather. Attempts were made to divert to other airports at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Eberswalde
Eberswalde
Eberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42144 , geographical location . The town is often called Waldstadt , because of the large forests around it, including the...
before the crew decided to land at Werneuchen
Werneuchen
Werneuchen is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, in the district of Barnim northeast of Berlin within the metropolitan area. Most of the population of Werneuchen commutes to Berlin.-International relations:Werneuchen is twinned with: Dziwnów, Poland...
. On landing, the aircraft struck an earth bank which ripped off all three undercarriage legs, and came to rest on its belly with an engine on fire. One of the sixteen passengers suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was written off.
The investigation into the accident by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) took over eight years to complete. It raised a number of issues, including poor crew resource management
Crew Resource Management
Crew resource management or Cockpit resource management is a procedure and training system in systems where human error can have devastating effects. Used primarily for improving air safety, CRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit...
, insufficient weather information being passed to the crew of Flight 850 and faulty runway markings at Werneuchen Airfield, where the runway had been reduced in length from 2400 metres (7,874 ft) to 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft), but the runway markings had not been altered to reflect this.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Saab 2000Saab 2000
|-See also:-References:* Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0 7106 1066 1....
, registered HB-IZY, and named Doldenhorn
Doldenhorn
The Doldenhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps. It is located above Lake Oeschinen near Kandersteg, Switzerland....
, after a 3643 metres (11,952.1 ft) high mountain in Switzerland. The aircraft was msn 047 and had first flown on 30 April 1997. At the time of the accident, it had completed 12,303 hours of flight and made 12,069 landings.
Accident
All times are UTCCoordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
(Zulu Time), local time was two hours ahead of UTC.
Flight 850 was originally scheduled to be operated by an Embraer 145
Embraer ERJ 145 family
The Embraer ERJ 145 family is a series of regional jets produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. Family members include the ERJ 135 , ERJ 140 , and ERJ 145 , as well as the Legacy business jet and the R-99 family of military aircraft. The ERJ 145 is the largest of the group...
aircraft. Due to the non-availability of the Embraer 145, a Saab 2000
Saab 2000
|-See also:-References:* Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0 7106 1066 1....
was substituted, and the briefing for the flight was extended by 15 minutes. Actual departure was at 15:55 UTC, 10 minutes later than the scheduled departure time. Weather reports indicated a line of thunderstorms, winds up to 45 knots (88.2 km/h) could be expected at Fuhlsbüttel and the designated alternatives of Hannover and Bremen. A number of SIGMET
SIGMET
SIGMET, or Significant Meteorological Information, is a weather advisory that contains meteorological information concerning the safety of all aircraft. There are two types of SIGMETs, convective and non-convective...
s were issued about an hour before the flight departed Basle, but the flight crew did not receive these. The SIGMETs indicated a front was developing with thunderstorms reaching FL380
Flight level
A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
in the Bremen area. The flight was scheduled to take-off from Basle Airport at 14:45. It carried four crew and 16 passengers. The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast
Terminal Aerodrome Forecast
In meteorology and aviation, TAF is a format for reporting weather forecast information, particularly as it relates to aviation. "TAF" is an acronym of Terminal Aerodrome Forecast or, in some countries, Terminal Area Forecast....
for Fuhlsbüttel Airport, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
valid from 13:00 to 22:00 was: TAF EDDH 101200Z 101322 31010KT 9999 FEW025 TEMPO 1320 29020G40KT 3000 TSRA BKN013CB
Tempo 1922 4000 RA BKN014.
Runway 23 was the active runway at Fuhlsbüttel. On approach to land, the flight encountered severe turbulence due to a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
and the crew aborted the approach as the aircraft descended through 3300 feet (1,005.8 m). It was later established that a derecho
Derecho
A derecho is a widespread and long-lived, violent convectively induced straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms in the form of a squall line usually taking the form of a bow echo...
had formed. Winds of 81 knots (158.7 km/h) were recorded, and seven people were killed in the Berlin area. The storm was described as the worst summer storm in 50 years in Berlin. The crew decided to hold while they assessed their alternatives. The designated alternative airport was Bremen Airport
Bremen Airport
Bremen Airport or Flughafen Bremen serves the German city of Bremen and is located south of the city. There were 2.4 million passengers in 2008.-History:The beginnings of the airport date back to the early 20th century...
, some 55 nautical miles (101.9 km) away. To reach Bremen would have meant flying through a frontal system. Another aircraft successfully landed on Runway 33 at Hamburg, reporting strong winds. The crew of Flight 580 declined to attempt a landing on Runway 23, and requested a diversion to Langenhagen Airport, Hannover. Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
(ATC) did not suggest any other alternatives, nor were they requested by the crew.
En route, the frontal system prevented the crew from turning towards Hannover. A decision was made to divert to Tegel Airport, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The Automatic Terminal Information Service
Automatic Terminal Information Service
Automatic Terminal Information Service, or ATIS, is a continuous broadcast of recorded noncontrol information in busier terminal areas. ATIS broadcasts contain essential information, such as weather information, which runways are active, available approaches, and any other information required by...
at Tegel stated that the weather there was clear and no significant change was expected. Approaching Tegel's Runway 08L, the crew requested priority handling, stating that they had fuel for 40 minutes flight. On approach, severe turbulence was again encountered due to the frontal system having reached Berlin. The approach was abandoned and the crew requested an alternate airfield from ATC. Eberswalde Airfield was suggested and accepted by the crew, who stated "We'll take anything at this point". On hearing this remark, ATC treated the aircraft's situation as an emergency. En route to Eberswalde
Eberswalde
Eberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42144 , geographical location . The town is often called Waldstadt , because of the large forests around it, including the...
, thunderstorms were observed and alternates were sought from ATC.
Hamburg ATC then offered Neubrandenburg Airport
Neubrandenburg Airport
Neubrandenburg Airport is a public airport and military airbase located in Trollenhagen, some north-east of Neubrandenburg in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.- External links :*...
, which was rejected by the crew of Flight 850 on receiving the weather information. Werneuchen Airfield was then offered, which was 20 nautical miles (37 km) away and offered a runway 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) long. Werneuchen was accepted by the crew. ATC managed to contact the chairman of the flying club based at Werneuchen. He stated that the runway surface was 2400 metres (7,874 ft) long, but an earth bank stretched across the runway leaving 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) available. Landing on Runway 08 meant that the first part of the runway fell before the earth bank. Almost an hour after aborting the approach to Fuhlsbüttel, Flight 850 began its approach to Werneuchen. The crew reported that they were visual with the runway and were advised by Werneuchen ATC that they needed to land on the eastern part of Runway 08. When Flight 850 turned onto its final approach, the captain remarked that the runway was "longer than Berne", and told the first officer to land wherever he wanted. Although the closed off part of the runway had been marked as such, the markings had weathered severely over the years, meaning that the original markings were easier to see than those that actually applied. Fading light and a lack of runway lighting contributed to the inability of the crew to see the earth bank.
The first officer landed the aircraft at what appeared to be the runway threshold. It then came in contact with the earth bank which ripped off all three undercarriage legs and the aircraft slid to a halt on its belly. The fire alarm for the port engine sounded, and the crew performed fire drills on both engines. One female passenger injured her leg. The wrecked aircraft was initially stored but was later declared as damaged beyond economic repair and was subsequently scrapped.
Investigation
The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) opened an investigation into the accident, which was to take 3,005 days (over eight years) to complete. It found that a combination of factors caused the accident. Had the crew received the SIGMETs, the BFU considers it is likely that the crew would have realised that the thunderstorms were not isolated, but part of a system, and therefore made different decisions to those that they did.The METAR
METAR
METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by pilots in fulfillment of a part of a pre-flight weather briefing, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting....
s for both Tegel and Schönefeld airports showed CAVOK and NOSIG, which was harshly criticised by the BFU. At 17:50, this METAR was issued at Tegel Airport: EDDT 04001KT CAVOK 30/17 Q1002 A2959 0998 2947 NOSIG. At the time, the cold front was 30 kilometres (16.2 nmi) south west of Tegel, and had moved 100 kilometres (54 nmi) in the previous hour. The BFU was of the opinion that NOSIG should not have been in the METAR, and that a SPECI would have been required. At 18:20, a new METAR was issued at Tegel: EDDT VRB01KT 9999 FEW040CB SCT120 BKN260 29/17 Q1002 A2959 0998 2947 TEMPO 27025G55KT 2000 +TSRA BKN009 BKN015CB COMMENTS: OCNL LTNG AND CB SW OF STN. This METAR was issued two minutes before Flight 850 began its approach to Tegel.
The decision to abort the approach to Fuhlsbüttel was supported by the BFU, but not the decision to divert to Hannover. The decision to divert to Tegel was supported by the BFU, based on the incorrect information given to the crew of CAVOK and NOSIG at Tegel. On approach to Werneuchen, ATC did not use correct terminology. It also found that the runway markings at Werneuchen did not conform to the required standard.
External links
- German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation