Investigation Summary
The flight was operating normally until the final approach phase at Paris. At 19:14, the crew intercepted the ILS for runway 27 at a distance of 14 nautical miles. However, a Korean Air Boeing 747 landing ahead of them suffered a pod strike on its number 1 engine, leading air traffic control to close runway 27 for inspection. The controller instructed Flight 5634 to break off their approach and intercept the ILS for runway 28. The crew attempted the maneuver in heavy fog and clouds. At 1.5 nautical miles from the threshold, the crew reported they still did not have the runway in sight. Shortly after, the aircraft developed an excessive descent rate. The Dash 8 impacted the terrain 1.8 km short of the runway 28 threshold. Although the airframe was destroyed, no fire broke out, which likely contributed to the survival of 19 of the 23 people on board.
Final Conclusions
The investigation was conducted by the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA). The final report concluded that the accident was caused by the crew's failure to monitor the aircraft's flight path and descent rate during a late-stage runway change in poor visibility. The sudden instruction to switch from runway 27 to runway 28 increased the crew's workload, leading to a breakdown in CRM and a failure to recognize the excessive sink rate (reaching 1,400 feet per minute) before impact. The BEA also noted that the crew had not fully configured the aircraft for the new approach, contributing to the unstable descent.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
54 years old
First Officer
25 years old
Systems & Failure Modes
Instrument Landing System (ILS)
The crew was using the ILS to navigate toward runway 27 before being instructed to transition to the ILS for runway 28.
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123
The aircraft was equipped with two PW123 turboprop engines.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was operated by Contact Air under a wet-lease agreement for Lufthansa CityLine.
- 02The crash occurred in conditions of heavy fog and low cloud cover.
- 03Four passengers were killed; all four crew members survived.
- 04The aircraft broke into two pieces upon impact, but no post-crash fire occurred.
- 05The runway change was necessitated by a landing incident involving a Korean Air Boeing 747.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Runway Change Procedures
Source ↗The BEA recommended that air traffic control and airline procedures be reviewed to ensure that late-stage runway changes in poor visibility do not compromise stabilized approach criteria or increase crew workload beyond safe limits.