Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The crew of ZH876 were tasked to fly a routine roulement of troops to a Tactical Landing Zone (TLZ) in Maysān province, Iraq. Weather at the TLZ was good, with a visibility of 25 km, no significant cloud and a light surface wind. The flight to the TLZ was routine and at approx 17:00 UTC the Hercules began to make its approach to the TLZ. Comms had already been established between ZH876 and the Tactical Air Traffic Controller (Tac ATC) at the TLZ, and the aircraft was subsequently cleared to land. An uneventful approach followed flown by the copilot. At 17:10:15 UTC, as the aircraft was about to touchdown at the TLZ, the crew experienced a load bang and a bright flash. The flash temporarily blinded the flight-deck crew. Virtually simultaneously, the aircraft touched down. The first flash was followed, a second later, by another flash and louder bang. The aircraft slewed off the left-hand side of the runway. The captain took over control of the aircraft. On regaining vision, the captain tried to steer the aircraft back onto the runway. However, the crew became aware of a fire on the port side, which was confirmed as a wing fire. The captain brought the aircraft to an immediate halt. The aircraft came to rest 50 m from the runway edge, some 700 m after touchdown. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and it was decided to blow up the plane because the damage was too difficult to repair and there was also a potential risk that anti-Iraqi forces might obtain information on specialist equipment.

The four engine aircraft departed Algiers-Houari Boumédiène Airport at 1705LT on a cargo flight to Frankfurt with a crew of three on board. While cruising at an altitude of 25,000 feet over north Italy, the copilot informed ATC about the failure of the automatic pilot system. Less than a minute later, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent during which the overspeed alarm sounded in the cockpit. In a nose down angle of 45-50° and at a speed of 850/900 km/h, the aircraft crashed in an open field located southwest of Piacenza. The aircraft totally disintegrated on impact and all three crew members were killed. A large crater was found at the point of impact and debris were found till 800 metres around.

The aircraft departed Kamina on a special UN flight to Kigoma, Tanzania, with an intermediate stop in Manono, DRC. On approach to runway 16, the captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure for unknown reasons. During the second attempt to land, the aircraft descended below the glide and struck the ground, coming to rest 300 metres short of runway threshold, bursting into flames. All 5 occupants were injured while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

The aircraft departed Kodiak on a cargo flight to Saint Paul Island, carrying nine crew members and a 19,000 litres fuel truck. Upon landing on runway 36, the airplane fish tailed twice, causing the right wing to struck the runway surface. The wingtip was sheared off as well as the engine n°4 propeller. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overrun, lost its undercarriage and came to rest few dozen metres further. All nine occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

In unknown circumstances, the aircraft crashed upon landing at Abéché Airport and came to rest about 200 metres past the runway end, bursting into flames. At least five passengers were killed and several others were injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The accident occurred 30 minutes after the airport closing time at 1800LT.

The RAF Hercules was on a routine operational flight providing support to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Lashkar Gar, Afghanistan at the time of the accident. The LKG Tactical Landing Zone (TLZ) is 6,800 feet long by 150 feet wide with a surface of compacted sand and gravel located on the south side of LKG town. The TLZ is used by UK forces and other agencies including the UN and Red Cross. The aircraft took off at 08:50 UTC from Kabul International Airport (KBL) to fly a routine logistics sortie to deliver cargo and personnel to LKG TLZ. After an uneventful medium level transit the aircraft landed at LKG at 10:20 UTC. Using a standard tactical landing technique the aircraft touched down some 500ft in from the runway threshold, reverse thrust was selected and speed reduced without the need for wheel braking. After 3 seconds, as the speed was nearing 70 kts there was a loud bang from the port side of the aircraft in the vicinity of the port main landing gear, the force of which was felt throughout the aircraft. At the same time the flight deck crew saw tyre debris flying up in front of the aircraft and then became aware of structural damage to the number 2 engine. The captain ordered the Emergency Engine Shutdown Drill (EESD) on the number 2 engine. He maintained directional control with nosewheel steering. Immediately after the shutdown of number 2 engine crew members observed a large amount of fuel leaking from the port wing area in the vicinity of the external tank pylon and that there was a fire in the vicinity of No.1 engine. The captain ordered the shut down of the No.1 engine using the EESD. Whilst this drill was carried out crew members observed that the fire was spreading across the whole wing. Realising the severity of the situation the captain brought the aircraft to a halt near the northern end of the landing zone some 6,400 feet from the touchdown point. He ordered the passengers and crew to immediately carry out the Emergency Evacuation Drill. Once all personnel had evacuated the aircraft, fire rapidly destroyed the aircraft and cargo.

The crew was performing a test flight on this aircraft that was parked for 10 years at Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport. On landing, the left main gear collapsed and the aircraft came to rest. All seven occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The General Kikunda Ombala was PIC at the time of the accident.

The four engine aircraft departed Tehran-Mehrabad Airport on a flight to Bandar Abbas, carrying 84 passengers and a crew of 10, among them several journalists from local newspapers and the Iranian National TV who were flying to Bandar Abbas to cover important military manoeuvres. Some eight minutes after takeoff, while climbing, the captain informed ATC about technical problems with the engine n°4 and elected to return to Tehran for an emergency landing. After being cleared to return, the crew started the descent when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a residential area located in the district of Yaft Abad, about 2 km south of runway 29L threshold. All 94 occupants were killed as well as 12 people leaving in a 9-floor building that was struck by the airplane. At the time of the accident, the visibility was reduced to 1,500 metres due to haze.

A HS-748 suffered landing gear problems, causing the airplane to end up on its belly, blocking Lokichoggio's single 1800-metre runway 09/27. Three other light aircraft, a Dornier 228, an Antonov 28 and a Cessna 208, landed safely at the airfield on runway 27 after the HS-748 accident. Two Antonov 12 aircraft inbound to Lokichoggio from Torit, Southern Sudan, diverted to Juba upon getting information of the runway obstruction. Transafrik Hercules S9-BAS, flying for the United Nations World Food Programme, contacted Lokichoggio Tower at 14:30 hours. The aircraft was returning from a food air drop at Motot, Southern Sudan. The pilot was advised to divert to Eldoret International Airport but he opted to land at Lokichoggio. The Tower cleared the Hercules to land on runway 27 at the pilot’s discretion. The aircraft made a very heavy landing short of the runway and the top centre fuselage broke. The aircraft came to a stop about one kilometre from the touchdown point. Shortly before coming to a halt, the aircraft impacted the HS 748 with its right wing tip. The captain, the first officer, the flight engineer and the two loadmasters evacuated themselves safely. A repair crew started to work on S9-BAS on site at Lokichoggio in May 2006. The fuselage was repaired but the contractor left before repairs were completed. The airplane was seen in November 2008 parked at Lokichoggio without landing gear, engines and vertical stabilizer.