Swearingen SA226 Metro II

Turning onto the runway the copilot observed a flash behind his instrument panel. He then received an electrical shock to his right arm from the right console. A fire then erupted at the lower right hand corner of his instrument panel. The crew and pax evacuated the aircraft. The interior of the aircraft was consumed by fire as well as most of the upper half of the fuselage. Examination of the right side wire bundle revealed numerous indications of arcing between wires and from wires to ground. One wire was arced at a point in line with a plastic oxygen line. There was also an oily residue inside the wire bundle. A small section of the right brake pressure line exhibited signs of elect arcing. The hydraulic system pressure gage copper line also showed signs of arcing. The plastic oxygen lines from the the cockpit side of the forward pressure bulkhead to the cockpit outlets had been consumed by fire and the oxygen supply was depleated.

Suffered an accident somewhere in South Africa. There were no casualties.

At liftoff, the pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed on runway. The pilot, sole on board, was injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The airplane departed Appleton, Wisconsin, at 1245LT on a regular schedule service (ZW965) to Lincoln, Nebraska, with an intermediate stop in Minneapolis. En route, while cruising at 12,000 feet, the crew encountered moderate turbulences and precipitation and was cleared to descend to 8,000 feet then later at 6,000 feet. As turbulences were getting worse, the crew was later cleared to descend to 4,000 feet and finally 3,000 feet. While descending to 6,000 feet, massive water ingestion caused both engines to lose power simultaneously. Both engines were restarted but the Metro couldn't recover and struck a muddy field in a slight nose down, right wing-down attitude. The aircraft bounced and hit the ground 288 feet further on. The plane skidded 1,022 feet before coming to rest inverted. There was no fire. Two passengers were seriously injured while 13 other occupants were killed.

Weather conditions at Esperance were fine; there was no cloud, visibility was in excess of 30 km and the surface wind was from the northwest at 5 to 10 knots. The aircraft entered the circuit on a left downwind leg for an approach to Runway 29. The flaps were lowered, firstly a quarter and then half-way, on the downwind leg and the landing gear was extended just before the aircraft turned onto a base leg. This configuration, and an airspeed of 133 knots (best single - engine rate of climb speed), was maintained until after the aircraft was straightened onto final approach. At an altitude of 1100 feet, the pilot considered he was at Decision Height and committed to land. He lowered full flaps and reduced the airspeed to 115 knots. At about this time, as he was retarding the power levers, the right engine flamed out. The pilot reported that he promptly sensed the engine failure and checked the engine instruments while re-opening both power levers. He noted both torque and fuel flow indication s for the right engine were zero. He briefly considered retracting the landing gear and flaps but decided to do neither. Left engine power was increased initially to the maximum available of 940°C ITT (Inter-turbine temperature) and then adjusted to the normal maximum limit of 923°C ITT. The right propeller was feathered. During this period the aircraft banked to the right and turned away from the runway. Its airspeed had reduced and the rate of descent increased. The turn had been opposed but the pilot found that the application of full left rudder and aileron would not enable him to maintain runway heading, although the airspeed was above the minimum control airspeed of 94 knots, specified in the aircraft flight manual. It was evident to the pilot that the aircraft would land short of the aerodrome, amongst trees to the right of the runway approach path. He therefore abandoned his efforts to regain the normal approach path and allowed the aircraft to turn further to the right, towards a large, clear paddock. Just before touchdown, he observed a power pole on his selected landing path and he again turned further right to avoid it. During this turn the right wing tip struck the ground. The nosegear then impacted heavily and collapsed . The aircraft slid and bounced across the ground for 188 metres before coming to rest. Fuel from ruptured line s ignite d under the left engine , but the fire was slow to develop and the occupants were able to make an orderly evacuation . By the time the fire brigade arrived from Esperance township, the fire had spread and most of the aircraft was consumed.

On final approach to Austin-Robert Mueller Airport, the left engine failed. The crew continued the approach but forgot to lower the landing gear. The airplane belly landed and slid for dozen yards before coming to rest. Two occupants, among them the copilot, were seriously injured while 16 other people escaped with minor injuries. The aircraft was written off.