A landing accident at one of the Caribbean’s most challenging airports resulted in substantial damage to two aircraft after a turboprop veered off the runway and struck a parked helicopter.
On August 24th 2023, an Air Antilles Express de Havilland Canada DHC-6-400 Twin Otter, registration F-OMYS, operating flight 3S-722 from Pointe-à-Pitre to Saint Barthélemy with seven people on board, arrived at Gustaf III Airport.
The aircraft approached and landed on runway 28 at 11:42 local time (15:42 UTC), approaching from the sea rather than over the well-known hill and road at the opposite end of the runway. The aircraft touched down within the designated touchdown zone, but shortly afterward began to drift to the left side of the runway.
Unable to correct the deviation, the aircraft left the runway, crossed a grassy area toward the apron and collided with a helicopter parked on a designated stand. The impact brought the aircraft to a stop.
One occupant sustained minor injuries, and both the turboprop and the helicopter suffered substantial damage.
The Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile opened an investigation shortly after the event and classified it as an accident.
In its final report released on March 13th 2026, investigators determined that the aircraft’s nose wheel was not centered during landing and was instead oriented toward the left side. When the nose wheel touched the ground during rollout, the aircraft immediately deviated left. Despite corrective inputs including rudder, ailerons and asymmetric reverse thrust, the pilot flying was unable to regain directional control before the aircraft left the runway.
Investigators found that the aircraft’s nose wheel steering (NWS) system had not been properly verified before landing. A procedure introduced by the manufacturer in 2017 required pilots to manually check that the nose wheel steering system was locked in the centered position after takeoff and again before landing. However, this update had not been incorporated into the operator’s procedures.
As a result, the crew did not perform the full manual verification of the nose wheel steering lever that would have confirmed the wheel was properly centered and locked.
The investigation also revealed that tension in the nose wheel steering control cable was insufficient. Although investigators could not determine the exact cause of the incorrect adjustment, they concluded it likely allowed the wheel to appear aligned while not actually being locked in position. During the flight, the wheel may then have pivoted away from center.
The report identified several contributing factors, including shortcomings in the airline’s operational documentation, insufficient emphasis on the steering system checks during pilot training, possible distraction in the cockpit while checklists were being performed, and fatigue affecting the captain due to lack of sleep in the days leading up to the flight.
Investigators concluded that these combined factors prevented the crew from detecting the misaligned nose wheel before landing, ultimately leading to the runway excursion and collision with the parked helicopter.