Safety News

Air Sunshine Flight 527, a Cessna 402, crashed on July 13, 2003 an engine failure and ditching in the Atlantic Ocean just west of Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. There were ten people aboard including the pilot; two died, six received minor injuries, and two were unharmed. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident to be, "the in-flight failure of the right engine and the pilot's failure to adequately manage the airplane's performance after the engine failed. The engine failure resulted from inadequate maintenance that was performed by Air Sunshine's maintenance personnel during undocumented maintenance."

In addition, the NTSB determined that maintenance record-keeping and practices of the company were not adequate. Looking further at contributing factors, the FAA was cited as having insufficient oversight to detect inadequate maintenance record-keeping practices at the airline.

The results of the investigation of this accident may lead to inevitable increases in interactions with the FAA as evidenced by the recently released NTSB recommendation based on the investigations and findings from this accident.

On April 8, 2005 the NTSB released the following safety recommendations:

• The FAA should review the procedures used during its oversight of Air Sunshine, including those for the Surveillance and Evaluation Program and Regional Aviation Safety Inspection Program to determine why the inspections failed to ensure that operational and maintenance issues that existed at the company were corrected. On the basis of the findings of this review, modify Part 135 inspection procedures to ensure that such issues, including maintenance record-keeping and practices, are identified and corrected before accidents occur.


• Develop specific criteria regarding the number of accidents and/or incidents that would cause an increase in oversight of an operator.


• Review and revise the process through which the transfer of a Part 135 air carrier's operating certificate from one Flight Standards District Office to another is granted to ensure the adequate oversight of such carriers. Further, ensure that, before granting an operator's request to transfer an operating certificate, appropriate geographic oversight is in place at the new office and that the justification for the transfer has been adequately reviewed.

According to the recommendation letter, "the Board is concerned that safety issues existed at Air Sunshine and were identified by the FAA before the accident but were not corrected and still existed after the accident." The NTSB is asking the FAA to conduct a thorough review of oversight procedures and implement changes to the Part 135 inspection procedures. Perhaps the changes will improve the oversight needed to ensure the public trust. -- By Joy Finnegan