Minneapolis - Hibbing

On December 1, 1993 at 07:50 PM, Minneapolis - Hibbing experienced a crash involving BAe Jetstream 31, operated by Northwest Airlink, with the event recorded near Hibbing-Range (Chisholm) Minnesota.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

18 people were known to be on board, 18 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 16, passenger fatalities: 16, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While on a localizer back course approach the airplane collided with trees and the terrain approximately 3 miles from the runway threshold. The captain delayed the start of the descent that subsequently required an excessive descent rate to reach the FAF and MDH. The captain's actions led to distractions during critical phases of the approach. The flightcrew lost altitude awareness and allowed the airplane to descend below mandatory level off points. The captain's record raised questions about his airmanship and behavior that suggested a lack of crew coordination during flight operations, including intimidation of first officers. Company management did not address these matters adequately. The airline's flight operations management failed to implement provisions to adequately oversee the training of their flight crews and the operation of their aircraft. FAA guidance to their inspectors concerning implementation of ops bulletins is inadequate and has failed to transmit valuable safety information as intended to airlines. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 18 occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration N334PX, MSN 706, year of manufacture 1986.