Pilot Debrief

EMBRAER EMB145 near St Louis, MO — 2016-02-24

Final reportDCA16LA100
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Date
2016-02-24
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Airport
KSTL
Aircraft
EMBRAER EMB145
Registration
N856HK
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

the flight crews' failure to consider all available runways for landing to minimize the gusty crosswind component. Contributing to the accident was the captain's reduction of the engine thrust for about 1 second at low altitude immediately after the first officer applied maximum thrust to conduct a go-around.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the captain's reduction of the engine thrust for about 1 second at low altitude immediately after the first officer applied maximum thrust to conduct a go-around.

NTSB narrative

The airplane was landing on runway 30L at STL in gusty crosswind conditions and the first officer was the pilot flying. The first officer questioned the captain on the use of flaps 45 on two occasions during the approach but ultimately decided to land with flaps 45. There were no airport limitations in effect for runway 6 at the time of the accident that would have precluded the flight crew's use of the runway 6. The flight crew had the performance numbers available to land on runway 6 which was more aligned with the wind conditions and would have reduced the crosswind component by more than half. During the flare, with the engines at flight idle, the airplane rolled left and then right when they encountered a wind gust. The left wingtip struck the runway followed by the right wingtip as the first officer advanced the thrust levers for a go-around. After the first officer advanced the thrust levers as the pilot flying, the captain, as pilot monitoring, reduced the engine power to idle for about 1 second before advancing them back to max thrust without a positive transfer of control. After the go-around, the first officer transferred control to the captain who subsequently performed an uneventful landing at flaps 22 on runway 30L.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Decision to continue approach despite strong crosswinds and control issues.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • CVR
  • FDR / data
  • 16 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents16

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