Air Antilles: Report on the August 24, 2023, Accident

On Thursday, August 24, 2023, a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Air Antilles veered off the runway while landing in Saint Barthélemy. The plane collided with a West Indies helicopter that was parked on the tarmac. One of the plane’s wings was nearly torn off, while the helicopter was left in a sorry state. After many months, the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has just released its final report on the accident. The document notes in particular that the nose wheel was not centered but tilted to the left during landing. The pilot was unable to correct this issue “despite his efforts.” It is noted that: “The crew was unaware of changes to the procedures for checking the nose wheel steering (NWS) system after takeoff and before landing, which involved verifying that the NWS was locked in the centered position. These changes had been introduced into the pilot’s operating handbook (POH) for DHC-6 series aircraft by De Havilland in 2017. These changes had not been incorporated into the operator’s procedures, which were adapted from De Havilland’s for multi-pilot operations (…) The tension of the NWS control cable was insufficient. It was not possible to determine the cause of this incorrect adjustment.”
The BEA issues three safety recommendations to the manufacturer De Havilland and, of course, to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).