A 1969-built de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 was operating a flight between Malé-Velana International Airport and the Kuredu Island Resort at Lhaviyani Atoll both in the Maldives. Onboard the aircraft was a crew of three and fifteen passengers.
The First Officer was the Pilot Flying (PF) with the Captain as Pilot Monitoring (PM). After an uneventful take-off, with a weight just under the MTOW (Max Take Off Weight), the aircraft climbed to 6500 for the cruise section of the flight. About 15 minutes prior to landing the descent to Kuredu was initiated.
The conditions (weather and sea state) were unknown to the crew, the PF had decided to fly a right base for a North-East bound landing. The PM had contemplated landing inside the lagoon as he judged the sea state to be rough. However, he decided against it seeing boats and a dredger inside the lagoon. He instructed the PF to fly closer to the reef as he noticed they were somewhat far out to sea. At 100-150 feet the PM instructed the PF to correct the airspeed, which was lower than normal. The PF corrected this immediately and positioned the aircraft for touchdown. When the floats touched a wave the aircraft bounced with a nose-high attitude, which caused the PM to call for power. The PF followed the instructions from the Captain and attempted to stabilise the aircraft, which he was unsuccessful in doing and lost control.
When the PM (Captain) took control and attempted a g0-around the left wingtip dropped dipping in the water. This was followed by the right wing hitting the water and the nose of the aircraft also digging into the water. when the nose of the aircraft became clear of the water the right-hand engine fire bell was activated. The First Officer looked outside and saw the right engine hang down but did not see any fire. The Captain attempted to shut down the right engine using the fire drill but was not successful as the fuel lever was jammed in position and could not be moved. He then completed the shutdown procedure and pressed the fire discharge button. He maintained some directional control with the left engine still running until a dinghy arrived to tow the aircraft to a buoy. Was secured at the buoy the left engine was also shut down and the master switches were switched off.
After assisting the passengers to disembark the Captain checked the aircraft for damages, he found the following;
Wingtips damaged
Flaps damaged
Ailerons damaged
Right-hand engine detached (but "hanging on")
Examination of the RH propeller indicated that the blades were at a low pitch angle at the time of impact. It was revealed that the right engine inboard mount was fractured while the outboard and top engine mounts were left intact but had torn out with the nacelle structure.
Damage to the right and left wing tips and the leading edges indicated that they both impacted water prior to the aircraft coming to rest. Further inspection of the airframe components including the flap system and the control and trim systems did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies. The accident was investigated by Maldives Aviation Authorities and it was determined that the cause of the bounced landing was;
Power was added on approach at around 100 to 150 ft. The aircraft bounced on touchdown which indicates probable skipping of the aircraft due to higher speed and with the prevailing sea conditions encountered a sudden big wave.
** Editorial note **
V2 Aviation - Training & Maintenance has not been able to obtain an investigation report on this accident. This blog is therefore based on several internet sources. Should there be an inconsistency in the blog, don't hesitate to get in touch with us. There are two possibilities to do that: via the comments function at the bottom of this page or the contact page of the website.