Description

On 6 November 2022 an ATR 42-500, (5H-PWF) operated by Precision Air on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba as PW494 encountered adverse weather at the visual approach-only destination. After a short delay, the captain decided to commence a visual approach to Runway 31 in day instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The prevailing weather was not conducive to this. Below 500 feet, after EGPWS ‘SINK RATE’ alerts were ignored despite the first officer’s calls to reduce rate of descent, an EGPWS ‘PULL UP’ warning followed. This was followed by a nose-up input on the control column, but it was too late to prevent a hard impact with the surface of Lake Victoria close to the runway threshold. This severely damaged the aircraft and rendered it beyond economic repair. Seventeen of the 39 passengers on board were killed as were both pilots. There were no serious injuries to the 24 occupants who survived and only one minor injury to one of the cabin crew.