As reported by The Aviation Herald, there was an accident today at what’s considered by many to be one of the world’s most dangerous airports. The good news is that there were no fatalities.
In this post:
Air Antilles plane has landing accident in St. Barts
This incident happened today (Thursday, August 24, 2023), and involves Air Antilles flight 3S722 from Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP) to St. Barts (SBH). The 143-mile flight was operated by a five-year-old de Havilland DHC-6-400 with the registration code F-OMYS.
The flight was routine, until it landed in St Barts at 11:42AM local time. The plane touched down on the runway in the correct place, but then began to veer left. It went off the runway, over grass, and then onto the apron, where it hit a parked helicopter.
The collision caused the airplane to come to a full stop, and as you’d expect, the damage to both the airplane and the helicopter is major. The helicopter was flipped on its side, while the airplane lost a wing. Fortunately there were no fatalities, and just one passenger sustained minor injuries.
Below is a video where you can see the moment that the airplane collides with the helicopter.
What a strange incident
Why is St. Barts Airport so dangerous? Well, for one, it has a very short runway, as it’s just 2,100 feet long, so there’s little margin for error. But what really makes the airport so challenging is that it has a hill on one side of it.
Ordinarily planes land and take off on runway 10, which has the hill behind it. This means that when coming in to land, pilots have to make quite the maneuver while on short final. For example, below is a video that gives you a sense of the runway situation in St. Barts.
What makes this accident strange is that the plane was actually landing on runway 28, meaning it was approaching from over the water. This isn’t an easy landing, by any means, as a last minute maneuver is still required. But it’s certainly not as challenging as the approach in the other direction, where you have to “dip” at the last minute.
At the time of the incident, winds were at an angle of 200 degrees and roughly eight knots. So while there was a crosswind, eight knots is hardly anything major.
I imagine an investigation will be performed into what happened here, because this is a bit of a head-scratcher. Yes, this airport is challenging, but the approach that this aircraft took isn’t the one that typically earns the airport the title of being so dangerous.
By the way, Air Antilles is a pretty well regarded airline, and it has a lot of experience with flying into St. Barts. Unfortunately the plane that had the accident was the carrier’s only de Havilland DHC-6-400. The carrier’s ATR turboprop aircraft aren’t capable of flying to St. Barts, so I’m curious to see how the carrier handles that situation. Talk about an awkward thing to explain to passengers — “ummm, sorry your flight to St. Barts is canceled, unfortunately we had an accident with the plane capable of flying there.”
Bottom line
There was an accident at St. Barts Airport today, as an Air Antilles turboprop collided with a parked helicopter while trying to land. The aircraft had touched down but then veered to the left, over the grass, and then onto the apron. Both the airplane and helicopter are badly damaged. Fortunately there were no serious injuries from the incident, which is a testament to how well built planes are.
I’m curious to see what an investigation reveals regarding the cause of this accident.
What do you make of this incident?
This airport is so challenging even in the best conditions. Hopefully is an aircraft malfunction and not pilot error.
I live on SXM, we heard from close contacts on TFFJ that the pilot reported the left brake got stuck and therefore caused the plane to veer left into the parked helicopter
The pilot's flip-flops must have gotten stuck under the brake pedal !
Definitely Putin’s work.
Was the pilot checked out to land on rwy 28? What about a stabilized approach? Couldn't the pilot make a go-around?
Elton Browne
Former Airline Captain
Is it possible to do a go-around with that hill in the way?
i understand that it is generally not possible for most aircraft, so most aircraft land on 10.
All pilots, commercial and private, require special certification including monitored demonstrations of landings and take-offs before being allowed to land on their own. In this case, the touch down was with proper placement and alignment, but then veered left while on ground. So, no a go around would not apply here. Touch and go's are permitted and do occur. A Touch and go with left brake locked and while plowing through a helicopter would not...
All pilots, commercial and private, require special certification including monitored demonstrations of landings and take-offs before being allowed to land on their own. In this case, the touch down was with proper placement and alignment, but then veered left while on ground. So, no a go around would not apply here. Touch and go's are permitted and do occur. A Touch and go with left brake locked and while plowing through a helicopter would not be advisable at most airports.
The crosswind must have factored into this mishap.The approach is a bit challenging because you have make an almost 90 degree turn and then quickly straighten up to align with the runway.Crosswinds must have been about 8-9 knots.
At least the helicopter doesn’t look like much of a loss, it’s pretty dirty.
That helicopter flies in and out of SBH multiple times daily it seems whenever we are on the island.
Another thing that's weird - have a look at the guy walking to his car across the street just as the incident happened..... "Oh - looks like a plane just crashed [doesn't stop walking or flinch] - need to get my beer into a fridge - it costs EUR50 for this 4pack on St. B"
The Runway 28 approach is actually not much easier then the runway 10 approach. It does not require a steep dive, but the approach takes you towards the approach end of 28 at about a 90 degree offset, and then you make a kai tak style right turn to align with the runway, only aligning about 10 seconds and maybe 300 feet before the threshold of runway 28.
Will await investigation .Too early to draw conclusions but lost of directional control can sometimes be due to mechanical issues