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Fatal accidents: scheduled passenger flights 15 April Hewa Bora McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 Goma, DR Congo -/3 8/86 T/O The aircraft failed to take off...(Flight International Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Fatal accidents: scheduled passenger flights 15 April Hewa Bora McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 (9Q-CHN) Goma, DR Congo -/3 8/86 T/O The aircraft failed to take off and overran the runway into a residential area, killing about 40 people on the ground. Unofficial reports have suggested that the aircraft suffered a loss of power from one or both of its powerplants. 30 May TACA Airbus A320-200 (EI-TAF) Tegucigalpa airport, Honduras 1/2 6/118 L The crew abandoned a procedural approach to Runway 20 citing low cloud, and requested an approach to the runway's reciprocal 02. But 02 has a displaced threshold, the runway was wet, and the change meant there was an 12kt tailwind on the approach. The reason for this unusual crew choice is not yet clear. The available landing run was 1,650m. The aircraft overran the runway end, crossed the airport boundary and a road and hit an embankment, suffering serious damage. The unobstructed overrun beyond the threshold of Runway 20 is only 15m. The initial report says there were no aircraft malfunctions, and that the FDR readings indicate that what happened to the aircraft was "consistent with runway conditions and crew actions". 10 June Sudan Airways Airbus A310-300 (ST-ATN) Khartoum airport, Sudan 1/29 11/203 L The aircraft, which had set off from Damascus, Syria bound for Khartoum, had to divert to Port Sudan because of stormy weather. The accident happened when the aircraft, inbound to Khartoum from Port Sudan, landed in a storm and caught fire. A total of about 30 people on board died. 20 August Spanair Boeing MD-82 (EC-HFP) Madrid Barajas airport, Spain 6/154 6/166 TO The crew taxied the aircraft for take-off, but returned to the ramp with a reported overheating ram air temperature (RAT) probe. Technicians examined the problem and tripped the RAT probe heater circuit breaker. Following that, the crew accepted the aircraft for departure. The crew taxied to Runway 36L and the aircraft, bound for Las Palmas airport in the Canary Islands, was cleared for take-off. The crew began the take-off run without realising they had failed to select flaps/slats for take-off, but they did not get any configuration warning. The investigation is examining whether the electrical distribution systems affected by tripping the RAT circuit breaker also affected the configuration warning system. According to the CVR and FDR, the crew called for rotate at 154kt, and 6s later the sound of the stall warning stickshaker sounded. The aircraft became airborne and reached a maximum height of 40ft, but the crew faced a series of wingdrops, first left, then right, and the aircraft descended, hitting the ground to the right of the runway, with the tail being the first part of the aircraft to touch. By the time the aircraft came to rest it had travelled more than 1km over uneven ground, causing it to break up. 24 August Itek Air Boeing 737-200 (EX-009) Bishkek airport, Kyrgystan 65 7/83 RA The aircraft, on an Iran Aseman flight, took off at 20:30 local time from Bishkek's Runway 08 bound for Tehran, Iran. The departure involved making a left-hand turn on to heading 240?. Climbing through 10,000ft the crew reported pressurisation failure and asked for a visual return to Runway 08 to land because the visibility was good although it was dark. The crew reported the runway in sight with about 22km to go, but as the aircraft contined its approach the crew recognised that they needed more time to configure the aircraft for landing and requested a left-hand orbit on approach to complete the checks. The orbit was flown at 30? bank, with airspeed reducing to 155kt and 15? flap set when it hit terrain 7.5km from the runway threshold. It had been descending during the turn. There was some thunderstorm activity in the area, but this is not believed to have been causal in this accident. 14 September Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737-500 (VP-BKO) Nr Perm airport, Russia 6/82 6/82 AA The aircraft, inbound to Perm from Moscow, was last reported at 3.600ft altitude positioning for its approach to Perm airport in "difficult" weather. It crashed just outside the city. No cause has yet been determined. Fatal accidents: non-scheduled passenger flights 2 May Southern Sudan Air Beechcraft 1900C (5Y-FLX) Nr Rumbek airport, Sudan 2/19 2/19 AA The aircraft was chartered to carry local politicians from Wau to Juba via Rumbek. Near Rumbek the aircraft suffered total power loss on both engines and crashed. 24 August Aereo Ruta Mya Cessna Caravan (TG-JCS) Central Guatemala 2/9 2/12 ER The pilots reported engine failure en route and the aircraft crashed. 1 September Air Serv Int Beechcraft 1900 (ZS-OLD) Mt Kahuzi, DR Congo 2/15 2/15 AA On a flight from Kisangani to Bukavu Kavumu airport to the south-east, the aircraft crashed into the slopes of Mt Kahuzi, which is about 15km north-east of Bukavu, at about the 10,000ft level in bad weather. Fatal accidents: Commuter and regional airlines 4 January Transaven Let L-410 (YV2081) Offshore Venezuela 2/12 2/12 ER Travelling between Caracas, Venezuela, and the Los Roques islands, the pilot of the L-410 reported that both the aircraft's engines had failed. The turboprop was forced to ditch. There is no indication yet what the cause of the power loss was, whether an identical maintenance mistake on both engines, or fuel exhaustion/interruption/contamination. The aircraft was at 3,000ft and descending toward Los Roques when the power loss occurred. 21 February Santa Barbara Airlines ATR 42-300 (YV-1449) Nr Merida, Venezuela 3/43 3/43 C The aircraft took off for Caracas, but it hit high ground at 13,700ft not long after departure from Merida Alberto Carnevalli airport. 3 April Blue Wing Airlines Antonov An-28 (PZ-TSO) Nr Lawa Antino, Surinam 2/17 2/17 C The aircraft appeared to be carrying out a go-around following an approach to Lawa Antino airport when it hit high ground. 7 June Patagonia Airlines Cessna 208B Caravan (CC-CTR) Nr La Junta, southern Chile 1/- 1/9 AA The aircraft, flying from Puerto Montt to La Junta, went missing and was not located for three days. The Caravan was found about 20km from La Junta airport among trees on a mountain slope. All the passengers survived the accident. 10 July Aerocord Beechcraft 99 (CC-CFM) Puerto Montt, southern Chile 1/8 1/8 C The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off for a local flight to Melinka. 8 October Yeti Airlines DHC Twin Otter 300 (9N-AFE) Lukla airfield, Nepal 2/16 3/16 RA The aircraft, inbound from Kathmandhu, was approaching Lukla's Runway 06 in poor visibility when it crashed. Airport officials report that two other Yeti Airlines aircraft had just landed successfully when fog arrived suddenly. Lukla, with an airfield elevation of nearly 10,000ft, is highly unusual in that it has a steeply sloping, short single runway on which landings can only be conducted uphill toward high terrain, and take-offs downhill. It serves climbers in the Himalayas. 15 December LAP Pilatus BN2A Trislander (N650LP) Caribbean Sea Nr Turks & Caicos Isles 1/11 1/11 ER The aircraft, en route from Santiago de los Caballeros-Cibao International airport, Dominican Republic to Mayaguana in the Bahamas, crashed into the sea after the pilot made an emergency call. The flight departed just after 16:00 local time and, an hour later, the pilot contacted Providenciales ATC in the Turks and Caicos Islands reporting that he had an emergency. The Asociaci?n Nacional de Pilotos reports that the captain's pilot licence had been suspended two years before. 19 December Air Vanuatu Pilatus BN2A Islander Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu 1/? 1/9 ER Crashed in jungle in thick fog. Two passengers were badly injured. Fatal accidents: non-passenger flights 14 January Alpine Air Express Beechcraft 1900C (N410UB) Offshore Kauai, Hawaii 1 1 RA The aircraft, inbound from Honolulu, hit the water surface about 12km offshore. It was approaching Lihue airport's Runway 35 in the pre-dawn darkness, but with good visibility and all the airport's approach lights and PAPIs operational, according to the airport operator. 26 January Dirgantara Air Services CASA Nurtanio CN-212 (PK-VSE) Nr Long Ampung, Indonesia 3 3 AA The aircraft wreckage was found not far from its destination at Long Ampung. 15 March Wings Aviation Beechcraft 1900D (5N-JAH) Obanliku, Nigeria 3 3 ER The aircraft was lost for months before it was found in dense jungle. 9 April Avtex Air Services Swearingen Metro III (VH-OZA) Offshore Sydney, Australia 1 1 C After take-off from Sydney Kingsford-Smith airport, ATC queried a turn that was different to the cleared departure, and the pilot reported technical problems. The aircraft crashed into the sea. 11 April Kata Air Transport Antonov An-32B (ST-AZL) Chisinau airport, Moldova 8 8 L The aircraft departed for Antalya, Turkey, en route to its Sudan base, but turned back soon after take-off because the transponder had failed. During the landing at Chisinau the aircraft's wing hit the structure of a navigation aid on the airfield, went out of control, crashed and caught fire. 23 May Alpine Air Express Beechcraft 1900C (N195GA) Billings, Montana, USA 1 1 C Shortly after take-off the aircraft, loaded with 2,250kg cargo, crashed into buildings outside the airport. 26 May Moscovia Airlines Antonov An-12 (RA-12957) Nr Chelyabinsk, Russia 9 9 C This was a positioning flight returning the aircraft to Perm from Chelyabinsk having delivered cargo. Reports say within 8min of take-off the crew reported smoke on board and that they were returning to land. The aircraft crashed before reaching the airport. 15 June China Flying Dragon Harbin Y-12 (B-38741) Chifeng, China 3 4 ER Crashed into high ground during a flight serving a mining community. 18 June Wiggins Airways DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 (N656WA) Hyannis airport, Massachusetts, USA 1 1 C The aircraft rolled dramatically at a height of about 200ft after take-off and struck ground in a steep bank, according to airline witnesses. Early investigations suggest that flight lock pins had not been removed, restricting the pilot's ability to counter a wing drop with control inputs. 27 June Juba Air Cargo Antonov An-12 (ST-ARN) Nr Malakal, Sudan 7 8 ER The aircraft was en route from Khartoum to Juba when it crashed near Malakal, about 600km south of Khartoum. Thunderstorms had been reported in the area at the time. Juba lost another An-12 (ST-JUA) in an accident on 8 November last year. It occurred when the crew, having reported an engine failure, attempted to return to Khartoum. Sudan has since banned operations by old Soviet-era aircraft, including Antonovs and Ilyushins. 30 June Ababeel Aviation Ilyushin Il-76 (ST-WTB) Khartoum airport, Sudan 4 4 C The aircraft crashed about 1km from the airport shortly after take-off carrying 36t of cargo. Witnesses reported seeing an engine on fire, and the aircraft was totally destroyed in the crash and the consequent fire. Sudan has since banned operations by old Soviet-era aircraft, including Antonovs and Ilyushins. 6 July USA Jet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 (N199US) Nr Saltillo airport, Mexico 1 2 RA The aircraft, built in 1967, crashed on a road about 800m from the airport and caught fire. 13 August Fly540 Fokker F27-500 (5Y-BVF) Nr Mogadishu North airport, Somalia 3 3 RA Local reports indicate that the aircraft hit a radio mast on final approach to the airport in poor visibility. 30 August Conviasa Boeing 737-200 (YV102T) Mt Iliniza, Ecuador 3 3 ER On a positioning flight after some time parked at Caracas, the aircraft set off from there for Latacunga airport, Ecuador, but struck high ground en route. 1 September Air Tahoma Convair 580 (N587X) Nr Columbus airport, Ohio, USA 3 3 C The aircraft took off from Runway 05L at Columbus, after undergoing C check maintenance, for a short flight north to Mansfield, Ohio. But just a minute after getting airborne the crew told ATC that they were returning. The aircraft crashed in a field south-west of the threshold of 05L. At impact it was heading south and early reports suggest the gear was down. The NTSB says the C check had involved flight-control cable rigging, but does not say whether this may be connected to the accident. 13 November Falcon Aviation Antonov An-12 (S9-SAO?) Al Asad air base, Iraq 7 7 TO During or shortly after take-off the aircraft crashed. US forces say the accident was not the result of hostile activity. 27 November XL Airways (Germany) Airbus A320 (D-AXLA) Offshore south-west France 7 7 AA During descent toward Perpignan airport, the aircraft crashed steeply into the sea in a turn. The A320 crew were conducting a post-maintenance test flight from Perpignan and returning having completed it. There was no emergency call made from the aircraft. The maintenance on the twinjet had been carried out at EAS Industries, Perpignan, to prepare the aircraft for return to its owner, Air New Zealand's Freedom Air. Significant non-fatal accidents 2 January Iran Air Fokker 100 (EP-IDB) Tehran Mehrabad airport, Iran -/- 6/53 TO The aircraft slewed off the runway during take-off in light snow and was destroyed by impact and fire. The intended destination was Shiraz. 7 January Qantas Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJM) Nr Bangkok airport, Thailand -/- ?/344 RA The aircraft suffered the loss of some flight instruments during its approach, but landed safely. Australian investigators have since determined that a water leak in the forward galley had penetrated the avionics bay through a crack in the glassfibre drip-shield that is supposed to protect the bay from water ingress. It caused the loss of several electrical busbars supplying systems and instruments. 17 January British Airways Boeing 777-200ER (G-YMMM) London Heathrow airport, UK -/1 16/136 RA Both engines failed to respond to an autothrottle demand for a power increase as the aircraft passed through about 700ft on its final approach. They also failed to respond to a manual demand for increased power, but the engines did not stop running. The crew were forced to land the aircraft on grass just inside the airfield boundary 350m short of the Runway 27L threshold. It slid to rest with its gear separated, but otherwise largely intact. There was no fire. The investigators have ruled out fuel exhaustion, fuel contamination, fuel pump, FADEC or engine failure. An interim AAIB statement says it believes that the flight conditions may have created a unique set of circumstances leading to this result. The aircraft was on a long flight in unusually cold upper air throughout the trip from top of climb onward, and there was no demand for high power from the engines at any time during the entire cruise, nor during the descent until the aircraft was on short final approach. The AAIB believes ice crystals may, when the extra power was demanded first by autothrottle and then manually, have partially blocked the fuel flow through both engines' fuel/oil heat-exchangers, where the fuel is warmed and the oil cooled. 1 February Lloyd Aero Boliviano Boeing 727-200 (CP-2429) Nr Trinidad airport, Bolivia -/- 8/151 L The crew had to force-land the aircraft 5km short of Trinidad's main runway, and the aircraft was extensively damaged except for the fuselage. The flight plan was from La Paz to Cobija in northern Bolivia, but the aircraft was forced to divert to Trinidad - not to its primary alternate, Rio Branco, Brazil - because of bad weather. Fuel exhaustion is suspected. 14 February Belavia Bombardier CRJ100 (EW-101PJ) Yerevan Zvartnots airport, Armenia ?/? 3/18 TO The aircraft, departing for Minsk in Belarus, flipped over on its back during take-off at 04:19 local time, but everyone survived. The same thing happened to a corporate CRJ100 on 13 February 2007 at Moscow Vnukovo. In both cases the weather was cold and snowy. 19 February Air Bagan ATR 72 (XY-AIE) Putao airport, Myanmar 2/3 57 TO The aircraft suffered engine failure so the crew abandoned the take-off. The aircraft overran the runway end by about 100m, running up a bank, which caused the fuselage to break in two. 6 March Manunggal Air Transall C-160 (PK-VTQ) Wamena, Indonesia ?/? 3/5 L Caught fire on landing. 25 March Air Atlanta Icelandic Boeing 747-400 (TF-ARS) Dhaka airport, Bangladesh -/- 10/309 G The aircraft was operating a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. While exiting the runway after landing, the crew received a fire alert for the No 3 engine and went through the drill to shut it down and extinguish the fire, but the fire spread and eventually damaged the aircraft beyond economic repair. All on board evacuated safely. The Icelandic investigators have since reported that the believed cause was a faulty main fuel line coupling in which an O-ring was missing or damaged following maintenance. 21 April Rico Linhas Aereas Embraer Bandeirante (PT-OCV) Coari airport, Brazil -/- 14 ER Engine failure en route from Manaus to Carauari, so the crew diverted to Coari, where the aircraft slid off the runway during the landing and was destroyed. 25 May Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200F (N704CK) Brussels Zaventem airport, Belgium - 5 TO The aircraft suffered momentary loss of power and a possible surge in one of its engines at about V1 (decision speed), and the crew abandoned the take-off. The aircraft overran the runway by about 300m and the fuselage broke up when it went over a 4m drop. Investigators have determined all four engines were operating and apparently undamaged when the aircraft came to a halt. 2 July Click Airways Int Il-76 (EK-76400) Nr Zahedan, Iran - 9 ER No 3 engine suffered uncontained failure during cruise, damaging No 4 engine, the wing and fuselage. The crew carried out a forced landing. 7 July Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200 (N714CK) Bogot?, Colombia - 8 TO Early indications are that the crew suffered failure of the No 4 engine, and during the drill to shut it down, lost the No 1 engine too. The crew force-landed while trying to return to the airfield. The aircraft broke up and two people on the ground were killed. 25 July Qantas Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJK) Over the Philippines -/- 19/346 ER While the aircraft was passing Manila en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne, one of the cylinders that supplies emergency oxygen to passenger masks failed, expelling considerable energy and propelling itself upward from its freight bay location through the cabin floor and into the mid-galley area, hitting the door handle and causing it to detach. The force also ruptured the lower fuselage just forward of the right-wing leading edge, causing sudden decompression. The crew put the aircraft into a rapid descent to 10,000ft, and transmitted a mayday call before diverting to Manila Ninoy Aquino airport. 27 August Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-200 (PK-CJG) Jambi airport, Indonesia -/- 6/123 L After landing the aircraft, inbound from Jakarta, slewed starboard off the runway, slid down a bank and came to rest in a field. The aircraft is believed to be a write-off. 7 September Tropic Air Cessna Caravan (V3-HFQ) Just offshore, Belize -/- 1/4 C Just after take-off from Belize Municipal airport on a short domestic flight the aircraft suffered engine failure and the pilot elected to ditch close to the shore. 13 September Hong Kong Airlines Boeing 737-800 Chek Lap Kok airport, Hong Kong -/- 7/112 G This appears to be a case of runway misidentification. The Hong Kong civil aviation department says the aircraft was prevented by ATC from taking off from taxiway A instead of the north runway. 22 September Icaro Fokker F28-4000 (HC-CDT) Quito airport, Ecuador -/- 4/62 TO The crew abandoned take-off and the aircraft overran the runway, continued down a slope and crashed through a wall. The aircraft was written off. 7 October Qantas Airbus A330-300 (VH-QPA) North-west Australia 10/14 10/303 ER During the cruise from Singapore to Perth, Australia, the aircraft suddenly changed level violently, seriously injuring people on board. The Australian Transport Safety Board says this was caused by a fault in one of the aircraft's three air data inertial reference units, which fed a series of random, erroneous aircraft performance values to the flight management system, including incorrect angle of attack information, which attempted to adjust for them. The false data also included "spike" values for airspeed, altitude, position and acceleration. The ATSB is working to discover why this occurred, and why the two other units did not override the clearly erroneous information. The crew intervened manually and diverted the aircraft to Learmonth, Western Australia. 31 October Air Europa Boeing 737-800 (EC-HJQ) Lanzarote airport, Canary Islands -/- ?/75 L The aircraft overran Runway 21 on landing. Weather and visibility were good, and the airline says the aircraft will be returned to service quickly. 1 November Arctic Transportation CASA Aviocar (N437RA) Nr Toksook Bay, Alaska, USA - 2 RA The right engine failed to respond to a demand for power on the base leg of a circuit to land on Runway 16, and the aircraft began to yaw right. Despite full left aileron and rudder the aircraft still yawed right and was descending fast, so the captain elected to force-land ahead on flat ground. The aircraft was badly damaged. 6 November Expressair Dornier 328 (PK-TXL) Fak Fak airport, West Papua, Indonesia -/- 4/32 L The aircraft landed just short of the runway following a low, steep approach, and the gear was damaged when it hit the runway threshold lip. It slid to a halt on the runway with the left main gear collapsed, but there was no fire. The owner, Indonesian maintenance and repair company Aero Nusantara, says the aircraft was repairable, but it was uneconomic to do the work. 10 November Ryanair Boeing 737-800 (EI-DYG) Rome Ciampino airport, Italy -/- 6/166 RA During final approach at about 200ft the crew saw a large flock of starlings ahead and initiated a go-around to avoid the birds. The flock, however, hit the aircraft and both engines lost power, so the aircraft landed very heavily on the runway, suffering a tailstrike and collapse of the left landing gear. 14 December Air Wisconsin Bombardier CRJ200 Philadelphia airport, USA - ? L The left main gear failed to deploy in a flight following maintenance. The NTSB says the attachment bolt for the upper end of the uplock assembly was missing, leaving it attached to the gear but not the airframe. The aircraft had to land on the remaining gear and suffered some damage. 20 December Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 (N18611) Denver int airport, USA ?/? 5/110 TO During take-off on Runway 34R the CVR recorded a "bumping and rattling" sound about 40s after brake-release for the roll, according to the NTSB's initial statement, and 5s later the crew abandoned take-off, the aircraft having reached a maximum speed of 119kt. The 737 veered off the runway to the left, hitting a berm before coming to a halt 600m from the point it left the runway, with a fire on the starboard side. All on board evacuated and fire crew extinguished the blaze. There were many injuries. The NTSB says there was no debris on the runway. There was a strong, gusting wind from the left, but otherwise the weather and visibility were good. Copyright ? 2009 Reed Business Information - UK. All Rights Reserved. |