The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) listed it as merely a serious incident but considered it significant enough to issue a full report. The incident involved the loss of control a Saab 340 experienced when it encountered icing. There were no injuries and no damage to the aircraft, but the pilots did not recover from the loss of control until the aircraft was only 112 feet above the ground. The incident happened June 28, 2002, on a scheduled airline flight.
The flight had left Sydney, New South Wales, and was descending from an altitude of 12,000 feet for the GPS approach to Runway 17 at Bathurst. Conditions on approach alternated between VFR and IFR, reported the pilot-in-command, and the airplane descended through clouds. The copilot, who reduced power on the left engine to about 15 percent and the right engine to about 19 percent for the circling approach, conducted at 135 knots, said that the engine anti-ice system was on, but the propeller de-ice and the airframe boot de-ice system were not activated.
Wing Icing Causes Stall
There was ice on the windshield wiper but neither pilot noticed wing icing. However, when the airplane reached the minimum descent altitude (MDA) of 3,810 feet, the autopilot captured the altitude and commanded the trim system to raise the nose of the aircraft to maintain MDA, as the airspeed was decreasing. The PIC overrode the autopilot to turn to the right to enter downwind for the runway. The copilot noticed the speed was decreasing and called “Speed.”
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