Mountains

Shortly after takeoff from Mulia Airport, while climbing to an altitude of 7,000 feet, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain and crashed. Both pilots and two passengers were killed while 12 other occupants were injured.

The single engine aircraft departed Bogotá on a flight to Larandia AFB where it was refueled. On board were one passenger and two pilots who were taking part to an anti-narcotic program on behalf of the US and Colombian Governments. The aircraft departed Larandia AFB at 1906LT on a reconnaissance flight to find three Americans who were taken hostage by FARC rebels after the crash of a first Cessna 208 operated by One Leasing last February 13. About 14 minutes into the flight, while cruising by night at an altitude of 4,500 feet in limited visibility, the aircraft struck a tree and crashed, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found on the slope of Mt La Sonora and all three occupants were killed.

At 1407:11 the flight was cleared from Flight Level (FL) 240 to descend and maintain FL190. At 1409:08 the controller cleared the flight to descend and maintain 15,000 feet, and at 1409:17 the pilot read back the clearance in its entirety. At 1410:20 the controller instructed the pilot to expedite his descent through 16,000 feet for traffic; however, there was no response. From 1410:33 to 1417:21 the controller made ten attempts to contact the pilot; again, there was no response. At 1417:26 the controller requested the pilot to ident if he could still hear him. At 1417:38 the controller received an ident from the aircraft and instructed the pilot to descend and maintain 15,000 feet. At 1418:36 the controller cleared the aircraft for the GPS approach and to acknowledge with an ident. There was no response. The aircraft had impacted a rocky drainage trench near the base of rock outcropping on a magnetic heading of 200 degrees in a wings level, approximately 40-degree nose down attitude, 15 nautical miles east-southeast of the destination airport at an elevation of 5,630 feet mean sea level. An examination of the aircraft's flight control, pressurization, and electrical systems revealed no anomalies with these systems which would have precluded normal operations. A further examination of the thermal damage to the aircraft, determined that there was no evidence of an inflight fire. Both engines underwent a complete teardown examination revealing no evidence of catastrophic or pre accident failure, and that both engines were functioning at the time of impact. Radar data revealed the aircraft was in level flight at FL 190 for more than 4 minutes, when it had previously been cleared to 15,000 feet. It subsequently began a climb reaching an altitude of 20,300 feet before beginning a right descending turn followed by a left descending turn. The last radar return before radar contact was lost indicated the aircraft was at 15,900 feet and descending. No evidence was available that suggests icing greater than light rime icing was present in the area and that weather was unlikely to have been a factor in the accident. The pilot was on two medications for high blood pressure and one for high cholesterol. The pilot had recently been found to have an elevated blood sugar, suggesting early diabetes or some other systemic disease or injury. The pilot had a family history of heart disease and high blood pressure, and had at least one episode of chest tightness in the past. It is possible that he had some unrecognized heart disease. The circumstances of the accident suggest substantial impairment or incapacitation of the pilot. It is possible that the pilot experienced an event such as a stroke or heart attack related to his previous medical conditions or as a new occurrence. It is also possible that he became hypoxic as a result of a decompression event without using supplemental oxygen. There is insufficient information to conclude any specific cause for the pilot's impairment or incapacitation

The aircraft departed Islamabad on a flight to Kohat, carrying nine passengers and eight crew members. While descending to Kohat, the crew encountered poor visibility when, at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located 27 km from the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 17 occupants were killed, among them Mushaf Ali Mir, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Air Force and his wife. He was flying to Kohat with a delegation to perform the annual inspection of the airbase.

The four engine aircraft departed Zahedan on a flight to Kerman, carrying 257 passengers and a crew of 18, most of them members of the Revolutionary Guards. On board were also several high ranking officers who just conducted a visit of the province of Zahedan, taking part to a narcotic control program. While descending to Kerman Airport by night, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy snow falls and strong winds. On approach, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Sirach located 32 km from the airport. First rescuers arrived on the scene the next morning. The wreckage was found about 100 metres below the summit and all 275 occupants have been killed.

The single engine aircraft was completing a survey flight over the Florencia area on behalf of the US Government, carrying four US citizens and one Colombian taking part to an anti-narcotic program. Eight minutes prior to its arrival in Floriencia, while cruising at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the aircraft suffered an engine failure. The crew attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed on the slope of a mountain located near El Para, bursting into flames. All five occupants survived the accident but when FARC soldiers arrived on the scene, they shot down both pilots and captured all three other occupants. The bodies of both pilots were repatriated to the US few days later while the three hostages were released more than five years later in July 2008.

The twin engine aircraft was completing a flight from Guaymaral to Popayán with an intermediate stop in Girardot, carrying four passengers and one pilot. The aircraft departed Girardot-Santiago Vila Airport at 1523LT. The pilot contacted Bogotá Control and reported his altitude at 4,200 feet bound to the west. At 1537LT, he received the QNH pressure. Two minutes later, while cruising in clouds, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed on the slope of a mountain, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found on Mt San Isidro five days later. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all five occupants were killed.

The aircraft departed Lima on a regular schedule flight to Chachapoyas with an intermediate stop in Chiclayo, carrying 41 passengers and five crew members. Following an uneventful flight from Chiclayo, the crew started the descent to Chachapoyas Airport in poor weather conditions. The crew maintained several radio contacts with ATC and all seemed to be 'normal' on board when the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Coloque located 15 km from the airport. Due to poor weather conditions and because the crash site was unaccessible, SAR teams arrived on scene two days later. The wreckage was found at an altitude of 3,300 metres. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 46 occupants were killed. The occupants were respectively 41 Peruvians, two Belgians, one Dutch, one Spanish and one Cuban.

The pilot, sole on board, was returning to his base at Panama City-Albrook Marcos A. Gelabert Airport after he dropped seven passengers in Bocas del Toro. En route, the twin engine aircraft was lost without trace. SAR operations were initiated but eventually suspended on January 8, 2003, as no trace of the aircraft nor the pilot was found.

The aircraft departed Kharkiv Airport on a charter flight to Isfahan, Iran, with an intermediate stop in Trabzon, carrying 38 passengers and six crew members. All the occupants were engineers working for Antonov and flying to Isfahan to conduct test flights on the first Iran-140, a prototype built under licence by HESA Company. While descending to Isfahan Airport by night and marginal weather conditions, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located 30 km from the airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 44 occupants were killed.