Mumbai: The pilots of a VSR Ventures Learjet 45XR that crashed at Mumbai airport in Sept 2023 continued an “unstabilised approach” to land in heavy rain apparently because they were anxious to touch down before a daily curfew on non-scheduled flights set in, according to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) final report released three years after the accident.All eight occupants — two pilots and six passengers — were injured even as the aircraft broke into two.Delhi-based VSR Ventures is the company whose Learjet 45 crashed at Baramati in Jan killing deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four other occupants.The probable cause of the Sept 2023 accident was the crew’s decision to continue the approach in marginal weather, together with inappropriate handling that led to an aerodynamic stall at low altitude from which the aircraft did not recover. An approach is unstabilised when a descending aircraft fails to hold the speed, flight path and alignment needed for a safe touchdown. Safety procedures require pilots to handle such a situation with a second attempt at landing, but that call was taken too late.Earlier in the flight, the cockpit voice recordings showed the crew discussing Mumbai airport’s daily ban on charter flights from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. The pilots intended to land by 5 pm, and they repeatedly asked the air traffic controller for direct routings to save time, the report said. The Learjet crashed at about 5.02 pm, roughly half an hour before the ban was to begin. “Undue commitment to land the aircraft before the restricted time as per the existing restriction at Mumbai,” the AAIB report said. It also cited a tailwind of 8–10 knots, higher than the 6–7 knots reported by air traffic control as a contributory factor to the accident.The problems began during descent after the autopilot was disconnected at 364ft. Thereafter, the aircraft drifted left and then right of the runway centreline and it was too high on approach. The pilot lost sight of the runway in heavy rain as the first officer called out “right, right”, and airspeed dropped below the 119-knot reference speed with power near idle, the report said.The first officer called for a go-around at about 122ft, but seconds later a stall warning sounded. The commander tried to go-around, but his actions were “inconsistent with the published stall recovery techniques which require pilot to increase the power and lower the nose of the aircraft”, the AAIB report said. The jet rolled to 53 degrees right wing down and struck the ground at about 96 knots.The report further said that the first officer should have called out for a go-around earlier. “The landing checklists were carried out by only one pilot without following the standard practice of challenge and response,” it added.The report found training lapses, including stall-recovery exercises marked “not applicable”. “The internal audits were not carried out diligently by the company,” it added.# The accidentOn Sept 14, 2023, a VSR Ventures Learjet 45XR flying in from Visakhapatnam crashes while attempting to land in heavy rain at Mumbai airport. All eight occupants — two pilots and six passengers — injured and the aircraft breaks into two.# AAIB recommendationsTrainingStall-recovery drills in every simulator session to include the landing configuration, not just climb, cruise and approach.One-time Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) check of fixed-wing pilots’ training records, especially at non-scheduled and general aviation operators.Operators to set up methods to verify training records periodically.In the cockpitPilots to be drilled to go around at any point in an unstable approach.More crew resource management training, with monitoring pilots taught to make firm, assertive callouts when parameters deviate.Pilots at VSR Ventures to be sensitised to proper challenge-and-response checklists.OversightOperators to run internal audits “in true letter and spirit”, with their effectiveness tested during DGCA surveillance.DGCA to check that operators’ manuals match current regulations, as VSR’s manual cited superseded accident-reporting rules.VSR to keep technical and airframe logbooks complete.
