Fokker 50

On 4 January 2015, about 0840 local time, a Fokker 27-50 a cargo flight, registration 5Y-SIB, operated by Skyward Express Ltd, experienced a gear-up landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (HKJK). The flight had diverted to HKJK due to a mechanical malfunction of the landing gear. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and the airplane was on an IFR flight plan. None of the ten persons on board were injured. The airplane was substantially damaged and there was no fire. The flight originated at Wajir (HKWJ) and the original destination was Nairobi-Wilson Airport (HKNW). During the departure from HKWJ, the flight sustained a bird-strike. After taking steps to confirm any aircraft system malfunction the aircraft systems were still operable and the flight crew elected to continue the flight. The flight en route was without any incident. While in the traffic pattern at Wilson, the landing gear was activated to extend and it resulted in an unsafe indication for the left main gear. During the period of about an hour while circling overhead the airport, the flight crew attempted to resolve the anomaly but they were unsuccessful. It prompted the crew to declare an emergency after they had confirmed that the left main landing gear was locked up in the air position and was not lowering. After declaring an emergency, the crew carried out an extensive consultation with the air traffic services and the company ground personnel and elected to divert the flight to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (HKJK). The crew made a successful gear-up landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (HKJK) runway 06 with no injury to those onboard the flight however the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aircraft got disabled after landing and blocked both runways for more than four hours as the airport authorities struggled to remove it to pave way for other operations. According to the report obtained from post-accident interview with the flight crew at 0540 the aircraft took-off at Wajir (HKWJ) on runway 15 and immediately after take-off on passing 200ft at a speed of Vref +10 Knots the crew noticed a flock of birds and tried to evade them. While increasing the aircraft rate of climb they felt like a thud (hitting something). After clearing the flock they inspected the instruments and confirmed all aircraft systems were functioning satisfactorily. They then proceeded with their flight as intended. According to the air traffic control (ATC) transcript obtained from Wilson control tower upon entering Wilson aerodrome traffic circuit at 0641:41 the crew requested ATC to join downwind runway 07 and was immediately cleared. After five minutes (0646:50) the crew requested ATC to extend downwind and at 0648:03 the crew confirms to the ATC that they are checking the undercarriage. At 0654:08 the crew confirms to the ATC that they have an emergency on the left main landing gear and they have checked it is locked up in the air position. The crew requested for more time to trouble-shoot the problem and requested ATC to brief their company about the problem. At 0731:07 the crew confirmed to HKNW air traffic service unit that they are ready to do gear-up landing and they would prefer HKJK instead of HKNW. They are then cleared for HKJK to join left base runway 06. 30 seconds later the crew changes their intention to go to HKJK and confirms to HKNW ATC that they would do a gear-up landing at HKNW and requests for more time. At 0749:31 the crew consults with their company through HKNW ATC and agrees to carry out the gear-up landing at HKJK and the flight was cleared to proceed to HKJK. At 0802 the crew made a successful gear-up landing on runway 06 at HKJK.

Upon landing on runway 05 at Mogadishu Airport, the right main gear failed. The aircraft veered off runway to the right then rolled for few dozen metres, collided with a concrete perimeter fence and came to rest. There was no fire. It appears the right wing and the right engine suffered severe damage (the right broke in two). The nose of the aircraft was destroyed and the fuselage was bent on several areas. All 24 occupants evacuated safely. The aircraft was completing a domestic schedule flight on behalf of Jubba Airways.

On 2 July 2014, about 01.14 UTC, 5Y-CET, a Fokker F50, an international cargo flight, operated by Skyward International, crashed shortly after takeoff from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi, Kenya (JKIA). Instrument Meteorological Conditions prevailed at the time and the airplane was on an instrument flight plan. The four crewmembers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed and consumed by post-crash fire. The destination of the flight was Aden Adee International Airport, Mogadishu, Somalia. The airplane was repositioned from its home base at Wilson Airport in Nairobi, the day before. The accident captain (CAPT) and another first officer conducted the repositioning flight. (see Aircraft Information). At JKIA, the airplane was loaded with cargo in preparation for the accident flight. The accident crew consisted of the Capt and FO in addition to a maintenance engineer and loadmaster. According to air traffic control (ATC), the flight plan was filed for duration of 2.5 hours at an altitude of 19,000 feet along with 5 hours of fuel aboard. Based on flight recorder data, the Capt was the pilot-flying and the FO was the pilot-monitoring. The accident flight was reconstructed using data from air traffic control and flight recorder information. According to FDR data, engine start occurred at at 01.50.20. At about 01.10.59 the flight made initial contact with JKIA air traffic control tower and after routine communication, including the confirmation of the number of person and fuel endurance, the flight was cleared for takeoff at 0112.30. At 01.11.58, both engines accelerated to a high power setting with engine no. 1 stabilizing at 78% torque, 100% propeller speed and engine 2 stabilizing at 80% torque, 99% propeller speed. About six seconds later, the Capt indicates “power is set”. About 2 seconds afterwards the Capt indicated “the auto-feather is off, left” and then 5 seconds later, the FO calls out “seven eighty” (?). About 16 seconds after initial engine acceleration was applied, the first of a series of three chimes audio alerts occurred, and continued at 1 second interval throughout the CVR recording. Immediately after the initial chimes, the Capt said “you see” and “how much is that?”. The FO responded “okay niner”. The Capt then asked “it has gotten to?” The FO replied “thirty four thirty ninety two” and shortly afterward “the left one is thirty”. About 24 seconds after initial engine acceleration, engine 1 torque climbs over a period of 2 seconds to a recorded value of 119.9%, the maximum value the recorder is capable of recording. Simultaneously Engine 1 propeller speed falls from 100% to 57%. Other engine shaft speeds remain at approximately their original high power values. Airspeed at the point this change occurs was less than 30 knots. During this period, the FO called out “one twenty two now [pause] torque”. The Capt responded “it is rising eh? The FO then noted “torque one twenty six now”. About 31 seconds after initial engine acceleration, the FO called out “okay speed alive sixty”. About a second later the Capt asked “do we reduce or”? The FO responded “we can just cut”. The Capt inquired “do we abort or continue?” The FO responded, “okay one one twelve and nine four point three” and then “okay one sixteen [pause] ninety four.” The Capt acknowledged “yeah okay” About 47 seconds after initial engine acceleration, the Capt said twice “did I reduce it?”and the FO responded sequentially “yeah” and “okay”] About 52 seconds after initial engine acceleration, the Capt asked “how is it now?” and the FO replied “yeah one oh two [pause] ninety four”. About 7 seconds later the FO called out “okay, one sixteen ninety four”. About 1 minute after initial engine acceleration, the Capt inquired “Is it really going?” The FO replied “one oh one, ninety five”. The Capt acknowledged and shortly afterward he queried “is it going really, is the aircraft really moving”. The FO responded “okay, one oh one, ninety five”. About 4 seconds later, the Capt indicated “it is not giving power” About 1 minute 9 seconds after the initial engine acceleration the FO called out “okay speed has now reached about hundred”. The Capt responded “oh yeah” and immediately afterward the FO called out “okay one eleven, ninety five”. About 1 minute 18 seconds after the initial engine acceleration, the FO indicated “hundred now”. The Capt acknowledged. About 1 minute 26 seconds after the initial engine acceleration, the FO called out “V one V R rotate” About 1 minute 33 seconds after the initial engine acceleration a transition of the airplane from ground to air mode is recorded and the pressure altitude begins to climb along with the Capt immediately afterward expressing two exclamations. Following the transition to air mode there were 51 seconds of flight recorder data before the recording ended. During this time and over a period of about 3 seconds, the FO calls out “positive rate of climb” and the Capt responded “gear up”. About 3 second later, the Capt expressed “it doesn’t have power [pause] it’s on one side.” About 6 seconds afterward, the FO said “we can also turn back”. About 3 seconds later the first of seven “don’t sink” (GPWS aural warning alerts) begins over a period of 23 seconds. After the second GPWS alert the Capt queried “ok, we’re ok?” After the third GPWS alert, the FO said “we can turn back” and the Capt immediately responded “let’s just go”. The FO replied “okay”. After the fifth GPWS alert, the Capt indicated “and this one is showing one fourteen” and then queried? “we can turn back?”. About 2 seconds later, the FO called out “okay speed is one hundred” and the Capt responded “but this one has nothing” About 1 second later and about the time of the sixth GPW alert, JKIA control tower radioed “five yankee charlie echo tango contact radar one two three decimal three. Good morning.” After the seventh GPWS alert the recording ended about 13 seconds later. During this time, the controller called the aircraft again. The Capt expressed “tell him [pause] tell him we have no power”. The last CVR data indicates the FO radioed, “ah tower charlie echo” and the transmission abruptly ended along with simultaneous sounds of distress. According to FDR data, about 15 seconds after the airplane transitioned from ground to air mode the recorded altitude peaked about 5060 feet and accompanied by a maximum airspeed of 100 knots. Along with a variation of airspeed between 90 knots and 100 knots for the remainder of the recording, during the following 20 seconds the altitude decreased to about 5000 feet and then increased to 5050 feet over the next 10 seconds where it remained until the recording ended at 1.14.27. Witness Accounts (Air Traffic Controller Civilians). The aircraft crashed during the hours of darkness at geographical coordinates of 01° 17’16”S, 36° 57’5”E.

The aircraft departed Nairobi-Wilson Airport on a cargo flight to Guriceel, carrying two pilots and a load of six tons of khat. After landing, the crew encountered difficulties to stop the airplane within the remaining distance. The aircraft overran and came to rest with its left wing partially torn off. Both pilots evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.