Investigation Summary
The approach was conducted during a severe thunderstorm. The crew continued the approach despite unstable conditions and high rates of descent. Upon touchdown, the aircraft experienced a massive vertical load that exceeded structural limits. While windshear was a significant environmental factor, the investigation highlighted that the crew's failure to execute a go-around when the approach became unstable was a primary contributing factor. The aircraft, named 'Anthony Ruys', had been sold to the Royal Netherlands Air Force just months prior and was being leased back to Martinair at the time of the accident.
Final Conclusions
The Portuguese authorities concluded the crash was caused by a high rate of descent in the final stage of the approach and a hard landing on the right main gear, which exceeded structural design limits. Contributing factors included the crew's delayed power application, premature reduction of throttle to idle, and the decision to continue the approach in a severe thunderstorm with known windshear risks.
Video Analysis
This Plane Crash Lives in Infamy in Portugal’s Aviation History: Air Disasters — A detailed look at the crash landing of Martinair Flight 495 at Faro Airport, exploring the weather conditions and the crew's actions during the final approach.
Watch on YouTube ↗If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Landing Gear
The right main landing gear collapsed upon impact due to vertical loads exceeding the design limit.
Autoflight System
The crew was using the flight director but the approach became unstable in the final seconds due to manual inputs and weather.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a DC-10-30CF named 'Anthony Ruys'.
- 02The Captain had over 14,000 flight hours and was a DC-10 instructor.
- 03The crash resulted in 56 fatalities (54 passengers and 2 crew members).
- 04The aircraft had logged 61,543 airframe hours before the crash.
- 05A Dutch court in 2020 ruled that the Dutch Aviation Safety Board had acted negligently in its initial investigation.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Unstable Approach Criteria
Reinforced the requirement for flight crews to execute an immediate go-around if approach parameters (speed, sink rate, alignment) are not met by a specific altitude.
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Windshear vs. Pilot Error
Reference ↗For decades, Martinair and Dutch authorities emphasized 'unexpected windshear' as the primary cause, while Portuguese investigators and later Dutch court rulings highlighted pilot error and the failure to abort an unstable approach.