UPS Airlines Flight 1354
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UPS Airlines Flight 1354 was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville International Airport to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. On August 14, 2013, the aircraft flying this route, a UPS Airlines Airbus A300-600F, crashed and burst into flames short of the runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport in the US state of Alabama. Both pilots were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. They were the only people aboard the aircraft.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an investigation and sent a 26-member "go team" to the crash site to "collect perishable evidence". At a press conference held later on the same day, the NTSB said they had been unable to recover the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder as the tail section (where the recorders are housed) was still on fire. Both recorders were recovered on the following day, and were sent for analysis.
At their third media briefing on August 16, 2013, the NTSB reported that 16 seconds before the end of the recording, the aircraft's ground proximity warning system sounded two "sink rate" alerts, meaning that the aircraft was descending too rapidly. Three seconds later, Captain Beal reported having the runway in sight, which was confirmed by First Officer Fanning. The CVR recorded the sound of the first impact with trees 3 seconds after the pilots reported seeing the runway. A final "too low terrain" alert by the GPWS was then recorded, followed by the final sounds of impact. The crew had briefed the approach to runway 18 and were cleared to land by air traffic control two minutes prior to the end of the recording.
To represent the country of manufacture, the French aviation accident investigation agency BEA, assisted by Airbus technical advisors, participated in the investigation.[13] Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team also assisted the NTSB. The NTSB stated in late August that no mechanical anomalies had yet been uncovered, but that the complete investigation would take several months.
On February 20, 2014, the NTSB held a public hearing in connection with its investigation. Excerpts from the cockpit voice recorder were presented, in which both the captain and first officer discussed their lack of sufficient sleep prior to the flight. On September 9, 2014 the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it had determined the probable cause of the accident was that the aircrew had continued an unstabilized approach into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport during which they failed to monitor their altitude and thus inadvertently descended below the minimum descent altitude when the runway was not yet in sight resulting in a controlled flight into terrain approximately 3,300 feet short of the runway threshold. The NTSB also found that contributing factors in the accident were: the flight crew’s failure to properly configure and verify the flight management computer for the profile approach; the captain’s failure to communicate his intentions to the first officer once it became apparent the vertical profile was not captured; the flight crew’s expectation that they would break out of the clouds at 1,000 feet above ground level due to incomplete weather information; the first officer’s failure to make the required minimums callouts; the captain’s performance deficiencies likely due to factors including, but not limited to, fatigue, distraction, or confusion, consistent with performance deficiencies exhibited during training, and; the first officer’s fatigue due to acute sleep loss resulting from her ineffective off-duty time management.
At their third media briefing on August 16, 2013, the NTSB reported that 16 seconds before the end of the recording, the aircraft's ground proximity warning system sounded two "sink rate" alerts, meaning that the aircraft was descending too rapidly. Three seconds later, Captain Beal reported having the runway in sight, which was confirmed by First Officer Fanning. The CVR recorded the sound of the first impact with trees 3 seconds after the pilots reported seeing the runway. A final "too low terrain" alert by the GPWS was then recorded, followed by the final sounds of impact. The crew had briefed the approach to runway 18 and were cleared to land by air traffic control two minutes prior to the end of the recording.
To represent the country of manufacture, the French aviation accident investigation agency BEA, assisted by Airbus technical advisors, participated in the investigation.[13] Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team also assisted the NTSB. The NTSB stated in late August that no mechanical anomalies had yet been uncovered, but that the complete investigation would take several months.
On February 20, 2014, the NTSB held a public hearing in connection with its investigation. Excerpts from the cockpit voice recorder were presented, in which both the captain and first officer discussed their lack of sufficient sleep prior to the flight. On September 9, 2014 the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it had determined the probable cause of the accident was that the aircrew had continued an unstabilized approach into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport during which they failed to monitor their altitude and thus inadvertently descended below the minimum descent altitude when the runway was not yet in sight resulting in a controlled flight into terrain approximately 3,300 feet short of the runway threshold. The NTSB also found that contributing factors in the accident were: the flight crew’s failure to properly configure and verify the flight management computer for the profile approach; the captain’s failure to communicate his intentions to the first officer once it became apparent the vertical profile was not captured; the flight crew’s expectation that they would break out of the clouds at 1,000 feet above ground level due to incomplete weather information; the first officer’s failure to make the required minimums callouts; the captain’s performance deficiencies likely due to factors including, but not limited to, fatigue, distraction, or confusion, consistent with performance deficiencies exhibited during training, and; the first officer’s fatigue due to acute sleep loss resulting from her ineffective off-duty time management.
| Incident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 14, 2013 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | North of Birmingham's runway 18 |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Airbus A300F4-622R |
| Operator | UPS Airlines |
| Registration | N155UP |
| Flight origin | Louisville International Airport |
| Destination | Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport |
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