US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are trying to determine why both engines of a British Aerospace Jetstream 31 apparently stopped almost simultaneously on approach to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport in Pennsylvania on 21 May. The cockpit voice recorder, however, was not working and flight data recorders are not required on this category of commercial transport operation.
The J31 (N16EJ) was being operated by Farmingdale, New York-based air taxi company Executive Airlines, on a charter from Atlantic City, New Jersey, with 17 passengers and two crew, who were all killed. The turboprop crashed during its second attempt to land on a rainy, overcast day, 17km (9nm) from the runway.
Its first attempt had been an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 04 and it appears to have been positioning for the second ILS when the crew advised air traffic control (ATC) that first one, then the other engine, had failed.
NTSB officials say that simultaneous engine failures are "highly improbable" and normally indicate a problem with the fuel or ignition systems, but a preliminary test of fuel from the truck that last refuelled the J31 showed no evidence of fuel contamination.
Accident investigators are examining the engines and fuel lines for signs of fuel exhaustion or fuel starvation. The post-crash fire would suggest some fuel was aboard.
Source: Flight International
