Mountains

The airplane was operated by the manufacturer and was on a sales demonstration itinerary. On the accident flight the airplane was being repositioned following a demonstration and the two pilots included a commercially licensed manufacturer's sales pilot and a private licensed regional sales distributor. One of the two pilots onboard requested, and received, an abbreviated weather briefing prior to departure, the details of which included an airman's meteorological information notice (AIRMET) for occasional moderate rime ice. He then filed an instrument flight rules flight plan for a route passing over mountainous terrain, with a published Minimum En route Altitude (MEA) for the airway that was above the predicted icing level. The flight plan was not activated and the pilots told a TRACON controller who was providing VFR advisories that they intended to continue under visual flight rules through a mountain pass and open their IFR flight plan after reaching the other side of the pass where the MEA was lower. A review of the mode C reported altitudes flown by the pilots and an analysis of the cloud bases and tops revealed that the flight was likely in at least intermittent, if not mostly solid, instrument meteorological conditions as it flew through the pass. As the flight approached the other end of the pass, the controller advised the pilots that the radar showed they were heading into rising terrain. The controller asked, "Do you have the terrain in sight?" One of the pilots responded, "we're maneuvering away from the terrain right now." After that, radar contact was lost. Recorded radar data showed that the airplane made a righthand turn toward rising terrain while continuing to climb to an approximate altitude of 8,800 feet mean sea level (msl). The last minute of radar data showed the airplane at altitudes of 8,000 feet msl, 8,800 feet msl, and 8,600 feet msl. The last radar return was at an altitude of 7,300 feet msl. An aircraft performance study was accomplished using recorded radar data and aerodynamic data provided by Cessna. Based on the radar data and other relevant information, as the aircraft turned toward the rising terrain, the bank angle steadily increased, until a very abrupt change in pitch consistent with a stall occurred, and the airplane departed controlled flight and descended at a very steep nose down attitude into the mountainous terrain. The airplane wreckage was subsequently located at an elevation of 6,073 feet. Nearby ground witnesses first noticed the sound of the airplane, that then suddenly changed to a high pitched increasing rpm. Witnesses then saw the accident airplane coming out of the clouds almost straight nose down. The witnesses described the weather as cold with drizzling rain and reduced visibility due to the clouds. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction or failure.

The twin engine aircraft departed Madrid-Torrejón AFB on a charter flight to Pamplona with 4 businessmen and a crew of two on board. While descending to Pamplona-Noain Airport, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions. Unable to establish a visual contact with runway 15, the crew initiated a go-around procedure. Few minutes later, while flying at an insufficient altitude, the aircraft impacted ground and crashed in a hilly terrain located in the Sierra de Tajonar, near the village of Labiano. The copilot and a passenger were killed while all other occupants were seriously injured. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

The aircraft was performing a business flight from Baku to Sulaymānīyah with 5 passengers and one pilot on board. It departed Munich to Baku via Budapest on February 14. As it descended through the altitude of 8,000 feet, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens and crashed near Buschin, few dozen km from Sulaymānīyah Airport. The wreckage was found on February 19 in a snow covered and hilly terrain. All 6 occupants were killed, among them 4 German businessmen, one pilot and one translator. The aircraft was owned by the German Company Hasit Trockenmörtel, specialised in building reconstruction.

The aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances near Cuchilla La Marimonda. The wreckage was found nine days later, on February 12, in a mountainous area. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. The pilot, sole on board, was killed. A load of 600 kilos of cocaine was found among the debris.

The aircraft, operated by the Slovak Air Force (Letectva a Protivzdu Obrany-snej Slovenskej), was returning to Košice following an uneventful flight from Pristina, carrying 28 soldiers of the Slovak Army, 7 logisticians and 8 crew members flying back home after a period in Kosovo on behalf of the KFOR contingent. While descending to Košice-Barca Airport by night, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed in a snow covered and wooded area located near the village of Telkibánya, Hungary. The wreckage was found about 20 km southeast from runway 01 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. A passenger was seriously injured while 42 other occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as good with a cloud ceiling at 5,000 feet and a visibility of 10 km.

The crew departed Chattanooga-Lovell Field on a training flight to Pensacola-Forrest Sherman Field NAS, Florida. About 20 minutes into the flight, while cruising at low altitude, the aircraft contacted a tree and crashed a mile further on the slope of Mt Johns, near Villanow, Georgia. All four occupants were killed.

The aircraft was engaged in an ambulance flight from Sangar to Segyan-Kyuel and back. Because of poor weather the flight was delayed a couple of hours. At ETD, weather conditions at Sangar Airport was as follows: visibility more than 10 km, scattered clouds at 800 metres, overcast at 3,000 metres, temperature -22° C, dewpoint -23° C, pressure 765 mm Hg. Weather forecast en route included a few stratocumulus clouds between 1,400 and 1,700 metres, significant altostratus clouds between 2,700 and 3,500 metres. The mountainous area over which the Antonov was to fly moderate orographic turbulence was present in the layer from 900 to 1,700 meters, and possible downdrafts on the lee side of ridge in the same altitude range. These conditions were not reported to the crew. Then medical equipment with a weight of 400 kg and passengers arrived at the airport by ambulances. The captain expected seven passengers, but three additional passengers had arrived, without having tickets. The names were added to the passenger list and the copilot arranged the payment of the fare. No seats were available for two passengers, so they had to sit on some hand luggage in the aisle. At 04:46 UTC the aircraft departed from Sangar and climbed towards the mountainous terrain. The highest point along the route was at an elevation of 1,976 metres. The minimum safe altitude was 2,515 metres. The pilot climbed VFR and maintained visual separation from the snow-covered mountains. At an altitude of 1,300 metres the Antonov entered an area with strong turbulence. The aircraft was caught in a downdraft. In an attempt to stop the plane from descending further, power was added to nominal, then to the takeoff power. With rising terrain it was impossible to continue. The pilot decided to carry out a 180° turn to the left over downsloping terrain. This brought the plane downwind with a 30° bank instead of the recommended 20°. As a result, the rate of descent increased and after it rolled to an angle of 120°, the left lower wing contacted a cliff. The aircraft lost speed and crashed on the snow covered mountain. All 12 occupants were rescued, among them four were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft was performing a charter flight from Belize City to the private airstrip of Privacion desserving Blancaneaux Lodge with two US citizens in honeymoon and one pilot on board. At 1016LT, the pilot reported over La Democracia and all on board seems to be ok. While descending to Privacion Aerodrome, weather conditions deteriorated when the twin engine aircraft crashed in a wooded area located about 5 km from the destination. The wreckage was found at the end of the day in a mountainous terrain. Weather conditions deteriorated due to the tropical storm Gamma approaching Belize. All three occupants were killed.

After being offloaded at Kabul Airport following a flight from Bahrain, the four engine aircraft took off for a short flight to Bagram AFB, carrying a load of telecommunication equipments for the US Armed Forces. Few minutes after takeoff, the crew changed frequency and contacted Bagram Airbase. Due to traffic at Bagram, the crew was instructed to hold at 10,000 feet about 10 nm south of Bagram AFB. Shortly later, the crew started the descent in haze when the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located near Kōh-e Khāk-e Shahīdān, about 28,6 km northwest of Kabul. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all eight occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was estimated to be 5 km with haze and clouds at 1,200 feet. The wreckage wasa found at an altitude of 2,120 metres.

The single engine airplane departed Kasese on a charter flight to Bukavu on behalf of the company Decilac, carrying one female passenger and two pilots. While cruising in poor weather conditions (heavy rain falls and strong winds), the aircraft crashed in a mountainous area located about 40 km east of Bukavu. The wreckage was found few hours later and the passenger was rescued while both pilots, an Armenian captain and a Congolese copilot, were killed. It was reported that the operator was not officially registered to the DRC Civil Aviation Authority and did not have any audit prior to start its operations.