Dar es Salaam

On final approach to Bukoba Airport, the crew encountered poor visibility due to heavy rain falls. In circumstances that need to be clarified, the airplane descended too low, impacted the water surface and crashed into Lake Victoria, about 100 metres short of runway 31. Fishermen with several boats were quickly on the scene and were able to evacuate 24 people. Unfortunately, 19 others including both pilots were killed. The aircraft sank by a depth about 3-4 metres.

Shortly after takeoff from Kilindoni Airport, the single engine airplane crashed in flames. All nine occupants were able to evacuate the cabin and six of them were injured and transported to local hospital. The aircraft was completely destroyed by fire.

The single engine aircraft was engaged in a charter flight from Likawage to Dar es Salaam, carrying one passenger and two pilots. Ready for takeoff at threshold, the crew applied full power and maintained brakes. Despite the engine did not reach the takeoff power, the captain released brakes and initiated the takeoff roll. The aircraft rolled for about three-quarters of the runway when the engine reached the takeoff power. But the aircraft failed to rotate, continued, overran and eventually collided with trees, bursting into flames. All three occupants were slightly injured and the aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.

After landing at Mwanza Airport, the crew encountered control problems. The aircraft deviated to the left then veered off runway. While contacting soft ground, the nose gear collapsed and the aircraft came to rest near a taxiway. All 80 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The twin engine aircraft departed Dar es Salaam Airport on a charter flight to Matambwe, in the Selous Game Reserve, carrying five Finnish tourists and one pilot. Upon landing at Matambwe Airstrip, the pilot decided to initiate a go-around procedure when the aircraft collided with trees located past the runway end and crashed, bursting into flames. All six occupants were injured, two seriously. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.

The aircraft was carrying tourists, including the organizer of the trip to Matambwe. These passengers included five adults, a boy of sixteen, three girls of eleven, five and four years. There was also an infant of 11 months. This trip was arranged by a company called Tent with a View Safaris, which owns a camp at Matambwe in the Selous Game Reserve. According to the company, initially two aircraft were organized to transport the passengers to Matambwe. The booking was made through a telephone call to an operator called Wings of Zanzibar, who advised them to go to Terminal I of Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. However, when the passengers arrived at the Wings of Zanzibar office at the airport, they found it closed. When Wings of Zanzibar was contacted on the telephone, a pilot employed by another company, DJB Ltd, was alerted to meet them. The pilot initially took them to the offices of DJB for payment. He also recommended that one aircraft would suffice for the trip. According to the pilot, he believed that the three children were small enough to sit on their parents’ laps. The passengers had little baggage. The aircraft, a Piper PA31-310 Navajo, took off from Dar es Salaam at 0825 hours and cruised at FL 65. The flight to Matambwe was uneventful and the aircraft was overhead the airstrip at 0902 hours. The pilot over flew the airstrip to alert the camp staff and check for wind and animals, a common procedure for landing in the Game Reserve airstrips. He also made another low run over the runway to ascertain its condition. Eye witnesses and passengers confirmed that the pilot made an overshoot, having flown very low attempting to land. The pilot was not sure of the runway condition because he had not flown into this airfield for a long time. In addition, before embarking on this trip, he had requested information on the runway condition from another pilot who had recently flown into the airstrip. He was told that the runway was usable. Finally, the pilot decided to land. He chose to land on runway 28 with full flaps. He touched down about two hundred and fifty meters beyond the beginning of the usable part of the runway and braked normally. After rolling for some time, he realized that the aircraft would not be able to stop before the end of the remaining length of the runway. With about another two hundred and fifty meters ahead, the pilot initiated a go round believing he had sufficient runway length remaining to gather enough speed for takeoff and climb out. He immediately increased power and initiated the go around. It is at this moment that the aircraft became airborne with no speed increase. The aircraft flew straight and level at full power without gaining height. It subsequently started chopping small tree tops for about two hundred meters beyond the end of the runway and then started to lose height. As it did so, the starboard wing collided with a large tree and the aircraft rotated through 180 degrees before coming to rest. The main wreckage settled below the impact tree and the passengers evacuated immediately. The wreckage caught fire immediately after the last passenger was evacuated. It burned completely, leaving only the tail fin and parts of the engine nacelle. When staff members from Tent with a View Camp located at Matambwe arrived, the aircraft was burning fiercely. They assisted in moving the occupants to a safer location, far from the burning wreckage and in administering first aid. The aircraft occupants were later treated at a local dispensary before being transported to a hospital in Dar es Salaam. One passenger died in the hospital four hours after the accident. Two passengers were treated for serious injuries. The injuries to the rest of the occupants were minor.

The aircraft was operating a charter flight to carry a party of hunters to Muyowasi-Murungu Airstrip. It took off from Dar es Salaam at 06:00 with one pilot and nine passengers. It was also carrying a load of supplies for the Muyowosi hunting camp. The flight to destination was uneventful and the runway was in sight at 08:14 hours. On reaching the runway the aircraft was too high and the pilot had to lower the nose for descent to flaring height. When the aircraft was finally flared, it gained speed and floated for much of the way down the runway. After covering about two-thirds of the runway length the brakes became effective and the aircraft swerved to the right. On crossing the right edge of the runway it collided with stumps and trees as it rolled in the bush parallel to the runway centerline. As it did so the nose landing gear struck a stump and collapsed, causing both propellers to strike the ground. The aircraft finally came to rest a short distance beyond the right end of the runway. There was fuel spillage but fire did not brake out.

The twin engine aircraft was engaged in a round trip from Dar es-Salaam to Ifakara, Mikumi and back to Dar es-Salaam, carrying seven passengers and one pilot. While approaching Dar es Salaam at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the right engine failed, followed few seconds later by the left engine. The pilot reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crash landed in a banana plantation located about 20 km from Dar es Salaam. All eight occupants were rescued, among them two passengers were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

On 13 December 1999 at 1029 5H-GTO took off from Zanzibar airport for a direct VFR flight to Chankonde. The endurance was six hours and the pilot was the only occupant. The aircraft was destined to pick a party of five hunters at Chankonde hunting airstrip for a flight to Dar es Salaam. The forward leg of the flight was uneventful and the pilot reported to Dar Control at 1153 hours that he has Chankonde in site and was estimating to land at 1215 hours. The aircraft did in fact land at 1216 hours. The pilot reported that shortly before he landed at Chankonde he circled around the airstrip and noticed that there were some pools of water on the runway. Five passengers boarded the aircraft at Chankonde for a flight to Dar es Salaam. The pilot said that all the heavy baggage and two members of the hunting party left by road for Dar es Salaam. The remaining five who boarded the aircraft carried only hand luggage. In the preparation for take-off the pilot taxied to the threshold of runway 07, made the "first selection" of flaps and applied full power on brakes. He testified that he did not lean the mixtures since he saw no requirement for this. The initial phase of the take-off rolI appeared' normal to the pilot. When the aircraft 'had' covered about 600 metres and was accelerating through 65/70 kt it went through a muddy ditch causing the pilot to feeI deceleration. It immediately became apparent that he was not going to achieve the take off speed and clear the trees in the foreground. The pilot subsequently decided to abort the take-off. When the engines were throttled back and brakes were applied the aircraft continued to rolI on wet and slippery sandy surface till it overran the end of runway 07 and collided with trees located about 60 metres beyond the end of the runway. As the aircraft impacted the trees in the accident sequence, both wing sections outboard of the engines separated and caught fire. The aircraft came to rest about 56 metres forward of the detached wing sections. The grass beneath the aircraft and the right engine were also on fire. The pilot was unable to open the cockpit door because it was blocked by a tree. He subsequently rushed behind and opened the main door. As he did so, one passenger, "who was tall and muscular" pushed the pilot causing him to falI by the doorway on the ground where grass surface was on fire. All the five passengers stepped on the pilot and escaped. The pilot managed to rise an his own, returned to the cabin and picked the fire extinguisher. He subsequently fought the fire under the fuselage, the tail and the right engine. He was also joined by a vehicle which had 20 litres of water and this was used to put out the fire on the left hand side of the fuselage. The passenger who was in the copilot seat sustained a cut on his eyebrow and another passenger suffered minor burns on his fingers. The pilot whom the passengers used as a stepping stone and a fire blanket sustained first degree burns to his face and both arms. Both wings and parts of the tail plane were torn off the fuselage by impact with the trees. They were also partly destroyed by fire. The fuselage suffered relatively less "damage and the cabin remained intact. However, much of the interior equipment was destroyed by unknown persons a few days after the accident when the wreckage was left unguarded. The weather at the time of the accident was reported to be sunny with no wind. The ground was wet from rains which had been falling in the area. Chankonde Airstrip, elevation 3,386 feet, has one runway 07/25 which is 1,000 metres long and 30 metres wide. The surface is sand with some patches of scattered grass. There are tall trees starting 60 metres beyond the end of runway 07.

Shortly after a night takeoff from runway 24 at Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta Airport, the single engine aircraft went out of control and crashed near the runway end. All four occupants were killed. The aircraft was completing a flight to Dar es Salaam on behalf of DHL. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were marginal with strong wind and fog.