Antonov AN-72

The airplane departed Goma Airport at 1532LT on a cargo flight to Kinshasa, carrying four crew members, four passengers and various goods for the Congolese Presidency. The last contact with the flight was 59 minutes after takeoff from Goma Airport then the airplane disappeared without any distress call from the crew. The wreckage was localized on October 14 near the village of Okoto, Kole region, in the west part of the Kasai-Oriental Province. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed, among them two bodyguards and one of the personal driver of the Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi who returned from Goma to Kinshasa the same day in another aircraft. The Congolese Presidency confirmed that Félix Tshisekedi spent four days in Goma and that his personal Jeep was on board the AN-72.

The aircraft was completing a flight on behalf of the Kazakh Border Guard Corp. While approaching Shymkent in low visibility due to the night and heavy snow falls, the aircraft hit a mountain slope located 21 km from the airport and was destroyed by impact forces. All 27 occupants were killed, among them Tourganbek Stambekov, Chief of the Kazakhtan Border Guards. It appears that the automatic pilot system failed shortly after take off from Astana and the captain decided to continue the flight. Two minutes and 40 seconds later, the radio altimeter failed as well and the crew continued the flight, referring to the barometric altimeter. But these suffered a momentary failure 19 minutes later and several differences were observed with the altitude parameters. During the descent to Shymkent in poor weather conditions, the captain failed to set the correct pressure in the barometric altimeters so the setting he was taking for reference was wrong. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was 385 meters too low and as a result, the Board concluded that the accident was the consequence of a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).

At 23:40 UTC / 08:40 LT (WIT) on Sunday April 21, 2002, the ES-NOP departed Sentani Airport, Jayapura, bound for Wamena. The aircraft, an Antonov AN-72, was being operated by PT Trigana Air Services as a cargo carrying charter transport flight. The flight crews of four included three cockpit crew personnel and a loadmaster. The flight was the third flight of eight flights planned for the day between Sentani Airport and Wamena airport. The first flight departed Sentani airport at 21:05 UTC / 06:05 LT. Arriving at Wamena at 21:40 UTC / 06:40 LT. The return flight from Wamena bound for Sentani, departing Wamena at 22:22 UTC/ 07:22 LT arrived at Sentani at 22:52 UTC/07:52 LT. The flights were reported normal, and the weather along the route was reported clear. The third return flight, from Sentani to Wamena departed Sentani at 23:40 UTC / 08:40 LT carrying a load of 7,481 kg. The weather at Jayapura and along the route was clear. The cruise altitude during the flight was 16,000 ft. After waypoint ‘Maleo’ the airplane over-flew the so called ‘north-gap’ and the descent was initiated while passing the ‘pass valley’. Three other airplanes were reported to be in the area, one Fokker F27 PK-YPQ which was enroute from Wamena airport to Jayapura, and two Antonov A26 aircraft, registration ER-AFQ and ER-AFE. Flying over ‘Yiwika’ 7 Nm from Wamena airport, and descending through 12,000 ft with speed of 330 km/hr, the ES-NOP overtook the ER-AFE. The flight crew had the runway in sight. The PIC acting as pilot flying, flew an ‘S’ approach pattern during the final flight path of Wamena airport. (arriving Wamena 24:15 UTC/09:15 LT). On final and at an altitude of 100 meters, the airplane was lined up to the runway 15-center line. The airplane touched down while still within the touchdown zone. The airplane bounced twice, the second and last bounce reported to be more severe than the first one. The airplane rolled down the runway, with the flight crew noticing an unusual nose down attitude. The PIC/Pilot Flying applied reverse power and brakes, controlling the aircraft by using rudder inputs. During the roll, the loadmaster, sitting behind the PIC’s seat saw black smoke coming from the floor of the forward side of the cargo compartment. The crew reported that the smoke hurt their eyes. The airplane decelerated with smoke emitted from the forward cargo compartment. After stopping, the loadmaster opened the airplane door taking the extinguisher to extinguish the fire. The PIC shut down the engines after the airplane came to a standstill then opened the left cockpit window. PIC then left the cockpit assisting the loadmaster extinguishing the fire, the F/O completed the shutdown procedure, as the smoke blocked out his vision. The Flight Engineer attempted unsuccessfully opened the overhead emergency exit. The F/O and Flight Engineer then evacuated through the left cockpit window, while the PIC and loadmaster exited through the door. Observing the occurrence, and as the crash bell was unserviceable, the ATC on duty called the Deputy Chief of the airport, and alerted the fire fighting brigade. The fire fighting personnel failed to start the fire truck, and after recharging the truck’s battery for about 10 minutes reattempt to start for a second time. This attempt again failed, and the battery was again recharged, while fire fighting personnel ran the airplanes final position carrying portable fire extinguisher. After another ten minutes of battery charging, the fire fighting truck was finally started, immediately proceeding to the accident site. After a refill of the fireextinguishing agent the fire was finally extinguished. Firefighting personnel extinguished the fire in about 30 minutes time. The airplane was seriously damaged, with the front side of the airplane completely burnt out, the fire cutting a hole from behind the cockpit roof until approximately the middle of the cabin in front of the roof. The cargo was totally consumed by fire. No one was injured during the accident. After the occurrence, Wamena airport was closed for Fokker 27 or bigger aircraft but opened for DHC-6 (Twin Otter) or smaller aircraft. The NTSC investigator team embarked to Wamena on that day (Sunday, April 21 2002). On Monday, April 22 2002, at 02.00 PM (LT), the investigator team give the clearance to remove the aircraft from the runway, at 05.00 PM (LT) the airport authority personnel started the efforts to removed the aircraft by big back hoe, at 08.30 PM (LT) ES-NOP has cleared from runway. On Tuesday April 23rd 2002, the Wamena airport activities back to normal as usual.

On final approach to Luzamba Airport, the crew encountered atmospheric turbulences. The captain increased engine power, causing the approach speed to increase as well. The aircraft, too high, landed too far down the runway. Realizing the situation after touchdown, the captain abandoned the landing manoeuvre and initiated a go-around procedure. While climbing, the crew was aware he should follow a downwind circuit at low height because of hostile actions in the area. During the second approach, the crew forgot to lower the landing gear so the aircraft landed on its belly and slid for about 350 metres before coming to rest on the runway. All 10 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft departed Abidjan on a cargo flight to Rundu, Namibia. While cruising along the Angolan coast, the crew contacted ATC when he was apparently forced to divert to Angola for control purposes. It is believed that the crew refused to divert to Angola and continued his route. Eventually, the decision to shut the aircraft down was taken by the Angolan Army. The aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Angolan coast, killing all 11 occupants.

The approach to Nagurskoye Airport was completed by a polar night and in poor weather conditions with snow falls. After landing on an iced and snow covered runway, the aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest. Nine occupants were injured, among them four seriously. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft departed Kiev-Gostomel Airport to assist the crew of the first AN-70 prototype in its test flight. The goal of the flight was to test the stability and controllability of the airplane for the certification program. While cruising at an altitude of 3,200 metres, the crew of the AN-70 elected to approach the AN-72 but misjudged the distance, causing both airplanes to collided. The tail of the AN-70 struck the fuselage of the AN-72. The crew of the AN-72 was able to return to Kiev-Gostomel Airport and to complete a safe landing. All crew members were uninjured but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair due to severe structural damages. Upon impact, the AN-70 lost its left stabiliser and also a part of the tail. Out of control, it entered a dive and crashed in a wooded area located in Veliky Lis, about 45 km northwest of Kiev-Gostomel Airport. All seven occupants were killed.