TI-BEI

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 31, 2017, about 1156 central standard time, a Cessna 208B airplane, Costa Rican registration TI-BEI, crashed while maneuvering after takeoff from runway 3 at Islita Airport (MRIA), near Corozalito, Costa Rica. The 2 flight crewmembers and 10 passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and post-impact explosion and fire. The airplane was registered to and operated by Nature Air, San José, Costa Rica, as a commercial charter flight operating under Costa Rican flight regulations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was originating at the time of the accident with an intended destination of Juan Santamaría International Airport (MROC), San Jose, Costa Rica.

The accident airplane was the second of a flight of two Cessna 208B airplanes transporting hotel guests from MRIA to MROC, where most of the passengers had connecting international airline flights. The first airplane departed MRIA using runway 3 and, after liftoff, made a right turn to the east through a pass in the hills and continued to MROC. The accident airplane took off about 15 minutes after the first airplane. According to the hotel employee who transported the passengers to the airport and was at the airport during the departures, the accident airplane did not make the same right turn as the previous airplane but instead continued on the runway heading. A ground-based video surveillance system installed at the airport captured a portion of the accident airplane's takeoff and the accident sequence. The airplane appeared within frame for about 25 seconds before the impact and could be seen climbing north on an approximate runway heading then starting a left turn. During the turn, the airplane's bank angle steepened, and the airplane descended into terrain.

The airplane's flightpath followed a valley with rising terrain on either side; the valley turned left and continued rising until reaching a mountain. When heading in a northerly direction from the airport, there was no exit from the valley. The airplane impacted terrain on the northwest side of the valley about 0.4 statute miles (sm) from the departure end of runway 3. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONCaptain

The 52-year-old captain held a Costa Rican commercial pilot airplane certificate with single-engine land, multiengine land, instrument, and flight instructor ratings. He also held an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He was issued US and Costa Rican first-class airman medical certificates on November 8, 2017, with no limitations.

The pilot's resume indicated that he held captain and first officer positions for various operators from 1998 through 2017. From July 1998 to October 2005, he was employed as a pilot flying Cessna 208B airplanes for another operator (SANSA). He was then employed by Nature Air in 2006 in both captain and first officer positions in DHC-6-300 (Twin Otter) airplanes. From January 2007 to July 2017 he returned to SANSA. The captain's resume also listed employment as an instructor pilot for Cessna 208B simulators from April 2007 to July 2017, and as the training manager at SANSA from October 2011 to July 2013. His resume and logbook excerpts indicated that he had 14,508 hours total flight experience, including 11,587 hours in Cessna 208B airplanes. Training documents showed that the pilot began ground training in October 2017 at Nature Air, although no documents provided specifically listed his rehire date.

The Nature Air General Operations Manual (GOM) listed, in addition to specified ground training, that a captain or pilot-in-command have a minimum of 500 hours total flight experience, an instrument rating, and receive airplane-specific ground training, receive 8 hours of simulator and/or airplane flight instruction, pass a captain qualification, and successfully complete initial operating environment training (IOE). Limited documentation of the pilot's training was provided during the investigation. The training documents confirmed that the captain had received ground training starting in October 2017, but there were no records showing completion of required flight training or of any check flights or IOE.

First Officer

The 26-year-old first officer held a Costa Rican commercial pilot airplane certificate with single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument ratings. She was issued a Costa Rican first-class airman medical certificate on June 27, 2017, with no limitations.

Flight logbooks were not available for the first officer; however, her resume indicated that she had accumulated 453 hours total flight experience, including 370 hours in single-engine airplanes and 83 hours in multiengine airplanes. Although her resume was not dated, it listed her position as first officer on Cessna 208B airplanes for Nature Air beginning in November 2017. Training documents indicated that she received ground training at Nature Air in October 2017.

The GOM indicated that first officers must hold a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating and have completed ground training in basic indoctrination, aircraft systems, human factors/crew resource management (CRM), and emergency and safety equipment. Training documents received during the investigation indicated that the first officer had received the specified training. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

Figure 1 - Photograph of the accident airplane

The accident airplane was a Cessna 208B Caravan, serial number 208B0900 (Figure 1). It was a high-wing, single-turboprop-powered airplane with a fixed, tricycle landing gear configuration. The accident airplane was configured to seat 12 passengers in addition to the 2 flight crewmember seats. The airplane was powered by a 675-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine, serial number PC1545, which drove a constant speed, full-feathering, reversible pitch propeller.

The airplane was originally issued an FAA experimental category airworthiness certificate on June 26, 2001 for research and development and regulatory compliance purposes. A normal category FAA airworthiness certificate was issued on September 20, 2001. An export application, dated November 11, 2011, indicated that the accident airplane was exported from the United States to Costa Rica; Nature Air was the listed purchaser. FAA records further showed that a normal category FAA airworthiness certificate was issued on June 14, 2016, indicating that the accident airplane was returned to the United States. Another export application, dated November 2, 2017, indicated that the accident airplane was again exported from the United States to Costa Rica with Nature Air as the listed purchaser.

Nature Air flight and maintenance records indicated that the airframe had accumulated 12,072.9 hours total time in service and 20,813 cycles as of the most recent entry, dated December 30, 2017.

The airplane's engine was manufactured on June 23, 2008. According to maintenance records, the engine was initially installed on another Cessna 208B before installation into the accident airplane on October 24, 2017, at an airframe time of 11,906.80 hours and 20,508 airframe cycles. At the time of installation, the engine had accumulated 3,105.4 hours total time in service and 4,332 cycles. Maintenance records indicated that the engine underwent a hot section inspection at the time of its installation into the accident airplane. Based on the aircraft records, the engine had accumulated 3,271.5 hours total time in service and 4,637 cycles since new at the time of the accident.

The airplane was maintained in accordance with an Approved Aircraft Inspection Program (AAIP). METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONThe nearest Instituto Meteorógico Nacional (IMN) weather reporting station was located about 25 miles east of the accident site at an elevation of 128 ft mean sea level (msl). At 1200, the recorded weather parameters included temperature 32°C, relative humidity 55%, and east wind at 4 knots gusting to 12 knots.

Wind models at 10 meters above ground level indicated that, for the time of the accident, the wind was about 5 knots from the northeast.

A review of a surveillance video from MRIA that captured the accident sequence did not yield enough information to determine surface wind direction. The witness at the airport at the time of the accident estimated that the wind magnitude at MRIA during the time of the accident was likely between 10 and 15 knots.

MRIA was equipped with two structures, one at each end of the airstrip's runway pavement, to accommodate windsocks; at the time of the accident, neither structure was equipped with a windsock. AIRPORT INFORMATION

Figure 1 - Photograph of the accident airplane

The accident airplane was a Cessna 208B Caravan, serial number 208B0900 (Figure 1). It was a high-wing, single-turboprop-powered airplane with a fixed, tricycle landing gear configuration. The accident airplane was configured to seat 12 passengers in addition to the 2 flight crewmember seats. The airplane was powered by a 675-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine, serial number PC1545, which drove a constant speed, full-feathering, reversible pitch propeller.

The airplane was originally issued an FAA experimental category airworthiness certificate on June 26, 2001 for research and development and regulatory compliance purposes. A normal category FAA airworthiness certificate was issued on September 20, 2001. An export application, dated November 11, 2011, indicated that the accident airplane was exported from the United States to Costa Rica; Nature Air was the listed purchaser. FAA records further showed that a normal category FAA airworthiness certificate was issued on June 14, 2016, indicating that the accident airplane was returned to the United States. Another export application, dated November 2, 2017, indicated that the acc...