Originally posted by
Me
From the avHerald Article
METARS:
MHTG 301600Z 20009KT 3000SW -DZ FEW006 BKN020 OVC080 22/20 Q1017 3KM SW WSW W 8KM CTE E PCPN CL D/C UNL HZ AVION DE TACA ACCIDENTADO EN LA PISTA 19 EN EL AEROPUERTO TONCONTIN
MHTG 301500Z 19004KT 2000S -DZ FEW008 BKN020 OCV080 21/19 Q1016 2KM S SW WSW D/C 8KM PCPN CL HZ
MHTG 301400Z 16004KT 3000SW -DZ FEW006 BKN020 OVC080 20/19 Q1016 3KM SW WSW NW D/C 8KM PCPN CL HZ NOSIG
So, let me get this straight, they were landing on a short runway with a 04-09kt direct tailwind? Looking at the chart, it appears that they should be able to shoot an approach from the north and make a right turn to final for 20 - I wonder if there are other factors that won't allow that? Other than that tailwind, I don't see anything else in the METAR that would be a big contributing factor to this accident - there were a few clouds at 600-800 AGL, and a broken layer at 2000AGL. Now, the MDA for that approach is 5620'MSL, and the airport is at 3297'MSL, so that broken layer would have been at 5297'MSL, therefore they would have been right in the middle of that broken layer at their MDA, but they still had 2000' after they broke out of those clouds. The visibility was 2-3km in light drizzle, so I guess that could be part of the problem, but that shouldn't be below minimums, I wouldn't think. Although, this is a non-precision approach.
Keep in mind that I'm not instrument rated yet, so I very well could be talking out of my ass...