Bad weather appears to have played a part in a SATA Air Açores accident in the Azores Islands on 11 December.
The British Aerospace ATP (CS-TGM) crashed into the steep-sided Pico de Esperanca at about 1,100ft (330m) altitude on the island of Sao Jorge, killing all 31 passengers and four crew.
The crew's last communication reported that they had sighted on-track landmarks, so it would appear they had begun a descent early with the intention of breaking cloud, and were preparing for a visual approach at Horta, which was about 10min flying time away.
The weather was reported as varying between slight and very heavy rain.
Source: Flight International
