Aircraft Crash Portugal

Aviation Expert Expresses Concern at This Catastrophic Crash in a Residential Area

Aviation Lawyer and former RAF pilot urges prompt publication of an accident report. Specialist aviation lawyer who has significant professional experience in flying multi-engine aircraft and acting in air accidents involving twin engine aircraft, says that the cause(s) of this catastrophic accident need to be promptly identified so that lessons can be learned.

On 17 April 2017 a Piper PA-31T Cheyenne II crashed next to a Lidl supermarket in Tires, shortly after take-off from Cascais Airport in Portugal, killing the four persons on board, a lorry driver on the ground and injuring a number of persons on the ground. It is reported that the aircraft climbed to a height of around 300 feet, banked left despite being cleared for a right turn, and the bank to the left increased along with a decrease in airspeed which resulted in the aircraft entering an aerodynamic stall, causing loss of lift and the steep descent to the impact point.

Jim Morris, a specialist aviation lawyer and former RAF, has acted in air accidents involving engine failures on twin engine aircraft shortly after take-off, such as the Sita Air Dornier crash in Nepal, as well as crashes into cities and occupied areas that have resulted in deaths and injuries to victims on the ground, including the police helicopter crash into the city of Glasgow, and the Shoreham Air Show Hunter Jet crash onto a busy road.

Jim Morris commented: “This crash of a twin engine aircraft into a residential area is extremely concerning. The nature of the catastrophic failure that caused the complete loss of control of this aircraft needs to be identified promptly, so that lessons can be learned and appropriate measures implemented to improve flight safety.

“It is to be hoped that the air accident investigators will be able to quickly identify the key factors that caused this crash and publish a preliminary accident report. It is early days, but a number of factors will be considered, including the weather conditions, the pilot’s handling of the aircraft, whether one or both engines lost power, whether there was a fire or another problem (such as damage to flying controls) that caused loss of control and if it was a single engine failure, and why the pilot was not able to maintain control and climb on one engine.

“This is a devastating crash and our thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones and the persons injured.”

25/04/2017
Jim Morris