Relying on the reported weather conditions at the airport, the flight crew expected to break out of the clouds 1,000 ft above ground level (AGL) while conducting a late-night nonprecision approach. They did not realize that the bases of the clouds along the approach path were lower than those over the airport.
Concentrating on gaining sight of the runway, the pilots allowed the Airbus A300-600 freighter to descend below the minimum descent altitude for the approach. They finally caught sight of the runway about two seconds before the airplane struck the ground near Birmingham (Alabama, U.S.)–Shuttlesworth International Airport at 0447 local time on Aug. 14, 2013. Both pilots were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire.
In its final report, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that the probable causes of the accident were “the flight crew’s continuation of an unstabilized approach and their failure to monitor the aircraf…
