MyFly Airlines Flight 52

MyFly Airlines Flight 52 was a regularly scheduled flight from Los Santos International Airport to Sandy Shores Airfield. On April 26, 2008, the flight suffered a bird-strike and crashed in the Pacific Ocean.

Flight
Flight 52's Shamal was bought in 1999 as a part of MyFly's expansion into Los Santos International Airport. The flight was delivered to MyFly in November of 1999.

In 2001, it was grounded due to a problem with the left aileron, which caused the aircraft to bank to the right slightly. In one incident with MyFly Airlines Flight 71, the aircraft entered a steep dive, losing 4,500 feet in one minute before recovering, injuring several on board. In February 2002, the flight was allowed to fly, and had no problems until Flight 52.

Accident
Flight 52 pushed back from gate 10 at 7:50a.m. and taxied to the waiting position at 33R. A Milijet Airlines flight took off from 33R at 7:59a.m., and a minute later, Flight 52 lined up on 33R.

Due to wake turbulence, Flight 52 was halted from taking off for two minutes. At 8:02p.m., Flight 52 took off from 33R. Ten seconds after taking off, the flight encountered a flock of birds, with one flying into the right engine, completely destroying it. The pilots squawked 7700 (general emergency) and prepared to turn left to land on 12R.

The explosion damaged the right aileron, leaving it in a permanent downwards position. The pilots also decided to turn right, in an attempt to land on runway 21, which was regarded as a poor decision by the NBST. The two ailerons in the downward position put the aircraft into a spiraling nosedive, with the left engine providing the power to spiral. The flight crashed at 8:04p.m. in the Pacific Ocean.

Aftermath
The search for the flight took 2 days, with the first wreckage washing ashore on Del Perro Beach. All 11 victims were identified by May 1. Governor Kenneth Winton authorized a package of $100,000 for each of the victim's families. This was widely criticized as Winton failed to authorized a memorial or call for changes in how MyFly operates Shamal, and is widely regarded as a contributing factor to his loss in 2009.

Investigation
The NBST conducted the search for the Flight, and on April 29, the black box and flight data recorder were recovered. The investigation was concluded on November 2, 2008.

The cause of the crash was concluded to be the failure of the right engine due to the bird strike, and the pilots poor decision making to attempt to land on runway 21. The NBST investigated the aileron incident in 2001, but were unable to corroborate the incident with Flight 52.