CU801 - Accident: Cubana E110 at Havana on Nov 28th 2020

A Cubana de Aviacion Embraer EMB-110, registration CU-T1541 performing flight CU-801 from Nueva Gerona to Havana (Cuba) with 15 passengers and 4 crew, landed on Havana's runway 06 at 08:33L (13:33Z) but suffered a belly landing, skidded along the runway and came to a stop without any gear. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage.

Cuba's Civil Aviation Authority reported: "At 08:33L a Cubana de Aviacion Embraer 110, covering the route Geron-Havana, with 15 passengers and 4 crew on board, had a failure in the landing gears causing the the breakdown of the aircraft while landing at Havana Airport. There were no injuries. An investigation has been opened."

Ground observers reported the aircraft landed without gear being down.

On Sep 22nd 2021 Cuba's IACC released their final report in Spanish only (Original in compressed form directly off their website) (Editorial note: to serve the purpose of global prevention of the repeat of causes leading to an occurrence an additional timely release of all occurrence reports in the only world spanning aviation language English would be necessary, a Spanish only release does not achieve this purpose as set by ICAO annex 13 and just forces many aviators to waste much more time and effort each in trying to understand the circumstances leading to the occurrence. Aviators operating internationally are required to read/speak English besides their local language, investigators need to be able to read/write/speak English to communicate with their counterparts all around the globe).

The report concludes the most probable causes of the accident were:

the failure of the landing gear to extend to the down and locked position due to the failure of the flight crew to comply with operational standards set by the operator.

Contributing factors were:

- the lack of a warning for flap extension to 38 degrees (+/- 2 degrees) with a least one of the gear struts not in the locked position

- insufficient analysis of flights, using voice recorders, in a pro-active matter as established by the operator

The captain (ATPL, 17,877 hours total) was pilot flying, a first officer (ATPL, 1,480 hours total) was pilot monitoring.

The IACC reported the flight initially developed normally in compliance with standard operating procedures. Once in cruise the crew began communication outside the operation of the aircraft, which continued into the critical stages of the landing. The captain did not issue a "Gear Down" instruction nor was ever stated "Gear Down" or "Three Greens".

Examination of the landing gear post flight did not find any anomaly. However, a faulty connector was found which prevented the alarm to sound when the flaps were moved into landing position without all gear in position and locked.

The IACC analysed the crew was properly qualified and well rested, there were no influences that could have incapacitated the crew or impaired their performance. Weather, ATC, radio communication, aircraft as well as mass and balance were not factors. The landing gear worked as designed both in normal and emergency (alternate) mode. The gear indications worked as designed. The gear alarm worked as designed. However, no alarm occurred when the flaps were moved into landing position without the gear fully in its down and locked position due to the failure of a micro connector. The captain never commanded gear down nor was the gear status ever queried or stated. These omissions were caused by conversations in the cockpit that went beyond the operation of the aircraft even in the critical phases of approach and landing.

Related NOTAMs:
A4705/20 NOTAMN
Q) MUFH/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2259N08225W003
A) MUHA B) 2011281405 C) 2011281800
E) AD CLSD

A4710/20 NOTAMN
Q) MUFH/QLAXX/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2259N08225W003
A) MUHA B) 2011281523 C) 2011281800
E) RWY 24 SALS NOT AVBL DUE DTHR

A4708/20 NOTAMN
Q) MUFH/QLPXX/IV/BO/A/000/999/2259N08225W003
A) MUHA B) 2011281501 C) 2011281800
E) RWY 24 PAPI NOT AVBL DUE DTHR

A4707/20 NOTAMN
Q) MUFH/QMTCM/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2259N08225W003
A) MUHA B) 2011281448 C) 2011281800
E) RWY 24 THR DISPLACED 1250M DUE WIP. MEN AND EQPT WORKING
DECLARED DIST:
RWY TORA TODA ASDA LDA
06 2750 2750 2750 2750
24 2750 2850 2810 2750

Related Flight: CU801, Cubana News