Ethiopia

On approach to Gondar Airport, the left wing detached. Out of control, the airplane dove into the ground and crashed few km from the airfield. All 11 occupants were killed.

East African Airways Flight EC-720 to London via Addis Ababa and Rome departed Nairobi at 06:55 hours. The flight to Addis Ababa was uneventful and the VC10 landed there at 08:23. During the transit stop at Addis Ababa, some freight was off-loaded together with 40 passengers. Fifteen passengers joined the flight and the airplane was refueled. Start up clearance was given at 09:21 hours and the aircraft taxied out six minutes later via the eastern taxiway for takeoff on runway 07. The tower advised the aircraft that the wind was 5 knots and variable in direction. At 09:32 hours, as the aircraft was backtracking to the takeoff point, the pilot reported a number of dead birds on the runway. He requested that these birds be removed before the aircraft took off. A fire truck was dispatched to take care of this. The aircraft continued to backtrack down the runway and turned in the pad at the end. It then lined up on the runway and stopped a short distance from the threshold. At 09:38:40 hours, the tower cleared the aircraft for takeoff. Shortly after the aircraft had passed the mid-point of the runway, at or just below the V1 speed, the nose wheel ran over a steel jacking pad. This jacking pad belonged to a Cessna 185 that had departed 4:40 earlier. The pad punctured the right hand nose wheel tire. A loud bang was heard and severe vibration was felt on the flight deck. Almost immediately after the nose wheel tire had burst, the nose of the aircraft rose momentarily and then come down. The flight crew decided to abort the takeoff. The engines were throttled back and reverse thrust was selected. The aircraft continued down the runway, veering slightly to the right. Then the no.1 rear main tire burst. Just before the aircraft reached the end of the runway, it veered slightly to the left and ran approximately parallel to the centre line. After crossing a storm drain located at the end of the runway at right angles to the centre line, the aircraft became momentarily airborne as it left the lip of the embankment on which the 60 m stopway was laid. As it did so, the left outer wing of the aircraft struck a steel lattice tower forming part of the approach lighting system to runway 25. This ruptured the no. 1A fuel tank and the released fuel promptly ignited. Sixty meters beyond the end of the runway the aircraft fell heavily on to the lower ground 10.6 m below the runway level. It broke up immediately on impact and after sliding a short distance, came to rest and caught fire.

The approach to Addis Ababa-Haile Selassie I Airport was completed by night and marginal weather conditions. On final, at an altitude of 150 feet, the pilot-in-command made a visual contact with runway 32 but the aircraft was 250 feet to the right of the extended centerline. The captain decided to make a turn to the left when the aircraft banked left, lost height and struck the ground. Out of control, it crashed by the runway and came to rest. All 14 occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

While approaching Gore Airstrip, the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances few km from runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all 17 occupants were killed.

After touchdown at Addis-Ababa-Bole, following an uneventful cargo flight from Dublin, the airplane went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest. The captain was killed in the accident while six other crew members were injured. It is believed that control was lost while the pilot was attempting a go around manoeuvre for unknown reason. While increasing power on all four engines, they stopped simultaneously, causing the aircraft to crash.

The crew was engaged in a local post-maintenance test flight. At liftoff, the airplane banked left, struck the ground and came to rest. All three crew members were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

During the takeoff roll, the aircraft skidded on runway and eventually veered off to the left before crashing into a mill. Both pilots, three passengers and one person on the ground were killed while 13 other people in the airplane plus three on the ground were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Few minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa-Bole Airport, while climbing, the crew encountered problems with both propellers that were turning improperly. The captain decided to reduce his altitude and to attempt an emergency landing when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a prairie located in Sendafa, about 30 km northeast of Bole Airport. One pilot and four passengers were killed while 14 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft departed Bulki at 1204LT on a flight to Jimma, carrying a crew of three, eight passengers and a load of coffee. On approach, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and as the airplane was too low, it struck the slope of a mountain located about 27 km south of the airfield. Ten occupants were injured while one of the pilot was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Debre Zeit-Harar Meda Airport located about 40 km southeast of Addis Ababa. The crew fate remains unknown.