Flight 8284 was operated using an ATR-42-320, manufactured in 1990 by ATR. Before being delivered to Empire Airlines in 2003, and later leased to FedEx in the same year, the aircraft served for three previous airlines: Bar Harbor Airlines, Continental Express and ExpressJet Airlines.
Flight details
The captain was 52-year-old Rodney Holberton with a total of 13,935 flight hours, with 12,742 hours as pilot-in-command. He had 2,052 hours on the ATR 42, 1,896 as PIC. The first officer was 26-year-old Heather Cornell with 2,109 hours, according to the records of Empire Airlines. She had 130 hours operating the ATR 42 as second-in-command.
Accident
The aircraft approached Lubbock International Airport at around 4:30 A.M. Central Standard Time in freezing mist. During the approach there was a flight control problem which prevented deployment of the flaps. The first officer continued the approach while the captain attempted to fix the flaps issue. Neither crew member monitored the airspeed and the aircraft began descending at over per minute, leading to a "Pull Up" warning. The crew pulled up 17 seconds after the initial alarm. The aircraft then entered an aerodynamic stall and crashed. The aircraft landed short of the runway threshold, and skidded down and off runway 17R. A small fire began shortly after. Airport officials said that weather conditions did not contribute to the crash.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board the flight crew's failure to follow published standard operating procedures in response to a flap anomaly, 2) the captain's decision to continue with the unstabilized approach, 3) the flight crew's poor crew resource management, and 4) fatigue due to the time of day in which the accident occurred and a cumulative sleep debt, which likely impaired the captain's performance."
Aftermath
N902FX was badly damaged in the accident and was written off. The crew members were sent to hospital for minor injuries, and were later released. Both returned to flying with FedEx Express a month later. The NTSB issued nine safety recommendations as a result of the crash, including recommendations to prevent in-flight icing. The crash led to the EASA reviewing airplane stick shakers to protect from stalls and adopting a rule regarding the simulation of icing conditions in flight simulators.
