- Date
- March 15, 2012, 07:38 local (11:38 UTC)
- Place
- San Juan, PR
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N153JRConvair 440 - NO Series
- Defining event
- Approach: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 3, 2015
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20120315006989A
- Case key
- 83140
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the flight crew's failure to maintain adequate airspeed after shutting down the right engine due to an in-flight fire in one of the right augmentors. The failure to maintain airspeed resulted in either an aerodynamic stall or a loss of directional control.
Findings · 8
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-14/04 On March 15, 2012, about 0740 Atlantic standard time, a Convair CV-440-38, N153JR, operated by Fresh Air, Inc., crashed into a lagoon about 1 mile east of the departure end of runway 10 at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), San Juan, Puerto Rico. The two pilots died, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airplane was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1251 as a cargo flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight had departed from runway 10 at SJU destined for Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten. Shortly after takeoff, the first officer declared an emergency, and then the captain requested a left turn back to SJU and asked the local air traffic controllers if they could see smoke coming from the airplane (the two tower controllers noted in postaccident interviews that they did not see more smoke than usual coming from the airplane). The controllers cleared the flight to land on runway 28, but as the airplane began to align with the runway, it crashed into a nearby lagoon (Laguna La Torrecilla).
Factual narrative
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-14/04 On March 15, 2012, about 0740 Atlantic standard time, a Convair CV-440-38, N153JR, operated by Fresh Air, Inc., crashed into a lagoon about 1 mile east of the departure end of runway 10 at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), San Juan, Puerto Rico. The two pilots died, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airplane was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1251 as a cargo flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight had departed from runway 10 at SJU destined for Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten. Shortly after takeoff, the first officer declared an emergency, and then the captain requested a left turn back to SJU and asked the local air traffic controllers if they could see smoke coming from the airplane (the two tower controllers noted in postaccident interviews that they did not see more smoke than usual coming from the airplane). The controllers cleared the flight to land on runway 28, but as the airplane began to align with the runway, it crashed into a nearby lagoon (Laguna La Torrecilla).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N153JR
- Reported as
- Convair 440 - NO Series (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 117
- Engines
- Pratt & Whitney R-2800-103W, reciprocatingPratt & Whitney R-2800-52W, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Part 125
- Operator
- Fresh Air, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Fresh Air, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- SJU · San Juan, PR
- Destination
- SXM · Princess Julian, PR
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- SJU · Luis Munoz Marin Intl, runway 28, 8,016 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 22,586 total · 9,000 in this make and model
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 44
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,716 total · 700 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- TJSJ, 2 nm away
Docket · 57
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 12, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.