Ivory Coast

Site:

Schedule:

Abidjan - Bouaké

MSN:

11245

YOM:

1987

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Abidjan-Félix Houphouët Boigny Airport at 0952LT on a government flight to Bouaké, carrying a crew of 4 and 30 passengers, respectively a delegation of 10 people from the government among them the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, and 20 journalists. Following an uneventful flight and a normal landing, the crew vacated the runway and taxied to the ramp when three explosions occurred on the right side of the airplane. The crew stopped the aircraft immediately on the taxiway and the rescue teams arrived quickly on the scene. Ten people were seriously injured while four passengers were killed. The aircraft was later considered as damaged beyond repair.
Those killed were:
Sékou Doumbia, member of the State Protocol serving the Prime Minister's office,
Souleymane Sérifou, member of the State Protocol serving the Prime Minister's office,
Lt Drissa Ouattara, Chief of Security of the Prime Minister,
Cpl Siaka Diomandé, Prime MInister's bodyguard.

Probable cause:

It was determined that three rockets were fired from outside the airport compound.

Crash of an Airbus A310-304 off Abidjan: 169 killed

Date & Time: Jan 30, 2000 at 2109 LT

Type of aircraft:

Airbus A310

Operator:

Registration:

5Y-BEN

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Beechcraft 200 Super King Air

Schedule:

Abidjan - Lagos - Nairobi

MSN:

426

YOM:

1986

Flight number:

KQ431

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

169

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

169

Captain / Total flying hours:

8663

Captain / Total hours on type:

1664.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

7295

Copilot / Total hours on type:

5768

Aircraft flight hours:

58115

Aircraft flight cycles:

15026

Circumstances:

On Sunday 30 January 2000, the Kenya Airways Airbus 310-304, registered 5Y−BEN, was undertaking the scheduled international flight KQ 431 transporting passengers from Abidjan to Nairobi, via Lagos. On board there were 10 crewmembers and 169 passengers. On the same day, in the afternoon, 5Y-BEN had flown in from Nairobi and landed at Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan at 15 h 15. The unfavorable meteorological at Lagos had obliged the pilot, after a thirty minutes hold at Lagos, to divert to Abidjan. The relief crew, which had arrived two days previously on flight KQ 430 on Friday 28 January 2000, at 15 h 44, took over on board 5Y-BEN, to undertake flight KQ 431 from Abidjan to Nairobi, via Lagos. Departure was scheduled for 21 h 00, in accordance with the initial program. The copilot was pilot flying, the Captain was pilot not flying. At 20 h 55 min 22 s, the crew established contact with Abidjan Airport control tower and asked for start-up clearance. This was granted. At 20 h 56 min 09 s, the Captain ordered the checklist to be performed and announced the type of take-off by saying "Flex sixty" at 20 h 56 min 19 s. At 21 h 00 min 18 s, three minutes and nineteen seconds after the start-up of the first engine (engine n° 2), the Captain announced over the interphone that linked him with the ground mechanic “we have two normal start-ups”. At 21 h 01 min 07 s, the crew of 5Y-BEN asked for clearance to taxi. The tower controller put them on standby. A few seconds later, he cleared them to taxi. At 21 h 02 min 33 s, the Captain ordered the Copilot to set the flaps at 15°. Later, at 21 h 04 min 50 s , the copilot announced "trim: 0.9 nose up, Slats/flaps 15/15". The airplane began to taxi at 21 h 07 min 35 s, the tower controller informed the crew of the latest wind, cleared them to take off and asked the crew the call back when they reached flight level 40. At 21 h 07 min 45 s, the copilot read back the clearance. This was the last communication between the crew and the control tower. At 21 h 08 min 08 s, the copilot announced "Take-off checklist completed … cleared for take-off". At 21 h 08 min 18 s, the Captain applied take-off power and announced "thrust, SRS, and runway" then, nine seconds later “100 knots”. At 21 h 08 min 50 s, the Captain announced "V1 and Rotate(4)", then two seconds later "Positive". The airplane took off. At 21 h 08 min 57 s, the copilot announced "Positive rate of climb, gear up". Less than two seconds later the stall warning sounded. At 21 h 09 min 07 s, the automatic call out (AC) announced 300 feet. At 21 h 09 min 14 s, the copilot asked "what’s the problem?". From 21 h 09 min 16 s, the AC announced successively 200, 100, 50, 30, 20 and 10 feet. Meanwhile, at 21 h 09 min 18 s, the copilot ordered the aural warning to be cut. Two seconds later, the GPWS sounded the “Whoop...” alarm followed, a half a second later, by the AC announcement of 50 feet. At 21 h 09 min 22 s, an aural master warning started, immediately followed by an order from the Captain to climb: "Go up!", though this was preceded six tenths of a second by the AC announcement of 10 feet. At 21 h 09 min 23.9 s, end of the master warning, followed immediately within a tenth of a second by the noise of the impact. The time of the accident is presumed to be 21 h 09 min 24 s.

Probable cause:

The Commission of Inquiry concluded that the cause of the accident to flight KQ 431 on 30 January 2000 was a collision with the sea that resulted from the pilot flying applying one part of the procedure, by pushing forward on the control column to stop the stick shaker, following the initiation of a stall warning on rotation, while the airplane was not in a true stall situation. In fact, the FCOM used by the airline states that whenever a stall warning is encountered at low altitude (stick shaker activation), it should be considered as an immediate threat to the maintenance of a safe flight path. It specifies that at the first sign of an imminent stall or at the time of a stick shaker activation, the following actions must be undertaken simultaneously: thrust levers ion TOGA position, reduction of pitch attitude, wings level, check that speed brakes are retracted. The investigation showed that the pilot flying reduced the pitch attitude but did not apply TOGA thrust on the engines. The investigation was unable to determine if the crew performed the other two actions: leveling the wings and checking that the speed brakes were retracted.
The following elements contributed to the accident:
• the pilot flying’s action on the control column put the airplane into a descent without the crew realizing it, despite the radio altimeter callouts;
• the GPWS warnings that could have alerted the crew to an imminent contact with the sea were masked by the priority stall and overspeed warnings, in accordance
with the rules on the prioritization of warnings;
• the conditions for a takeoff performed towards the sea and at night provided no external visual references that would have allowed the crew to be aware of the
direct proximity of the sea.

Final Report:

Crash of a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air near Abidjan: 8 killed

Date & Time: Jun 26, 1998 at 1940 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

ZS-MSL

Flight Phase:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Luanda - Lomé - Abidjan

MSN:

BB-815

YOM:

1981

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

1512

Captain / Total hours on type:

201.00

Circumstances:

The twin engine aircraft was completing a special flight from Luanda to Abidjan with an intermediate stop in Lomé, carrying seven UNO emissaries and one pilot. While descending to Abidjan-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport, the pilot encountered very low visibility due to foggy conditions. On approach, the aircraft entered a left turn then an uncontrolled descent and crashed about 30 km from the airport. All eight occupants were killed, among them Alioune Blondin Béye, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, aged 59.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the pilot lost control of the aircraft following a spatial disorientation while descending in very low visibility due to foggy conditions. At the time of the accident, wind was from 240 at 7 knots.

Crash of a Douglas DC-9-51 in Abidjan

Date & Time: Apr 12, 1997 at 1350 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-9

Operator:

Registration:

9G-ACM

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Beechcraft 200 Super King Air

Schedule:

Accra - Abidjan

MSN:

47755

YOM:

1978

Flight number:

GH560

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Following an uneventful flight from Accra-Kotoka Airport, the crew started the descent to Abidjan-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport in poor weather conditions. Due to heavy rain falls, the horizontal visibility did not exceed 2 km and on final, the captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure. Few minutes later, the crew started a second approach to runway 21, established on the ILS but continued the approach above the glide. This caused the aircraft to land 900 metres past the runway threshold. On a wet runway surface, the aircraft skidded and veered off runway to the left. While contacting soft ground, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and came to rest 1,800 metres past the runway threshold. All 104 occupants were evacuated, among them three passengers were slightly injured. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with heavy rain falls and wind from 110 gusting at 25 knots.

Crash of a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air near Bouaflé: 3 killed

Date & Time: Jun 28, 1996 at 0900 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

TU-TJE

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Training

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Yamoussoukro - Yamoussoukro

MSN:

BB-163

YOM:

1976

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a local training flight at Yamoussoukro Airport. Following several circuits, the crew was cleared to descend from 3,000 to 1,000 feet for a new instrument approach. In limited visibility due to foggy conditions, the aircraft descended below de MDA then struck trees and crashed in a prairie located near Bouaflé, about 40 km northwest of Yamoussoukro Airport. All three pilots were killed.

Probable cause:

Controlled flight into terrain after the crew descended below MDA in poor visibility.

Crash of a Fokker F27 Friendship 400M in Abidjan: 17 killed

Date & Time: Jun 26, 1994 at 1941 LT

Type of aircraft:

Fokker F27 Friendship

Operator:

Registration:

TU-TIP

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

San Pedro - Abidjan

MSN:

10577

YOM:

1978

Flight number:

VU777

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While descending to Abidjan-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport runway 21 by night, the captain reported runway in sight and was instructed by ATC to report on final. Few seconds later, the aircraft nosed down, entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed 4 km short of runway, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all 17 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The exact cause of the loss of control could not be determined. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was not in an approach configuration as undercarriage and flaps were not deployed. The speed and the rate of descent were excessive for unknown reasons.

Crash of a Boeing 707-321C in Abidjan

Date & Time: Jan 15, 1993 at 0217 LT

Type of aircraft:

Boeing 707

Operator:

Registration:

YR-ABM

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Beechcraft 200 Super King Air

Schedule:

Dakar - Abidjan

MSN:

19272

YOM:

1967

Flight number:

RK153

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The approach to Abidjan-Félix Houphouët Boigny Airport was completed by night with a reduced visibility to 1,250 metres due to low isolated clouds. On short final, the aircraft struck the ground 30 metres short of runway 21 threshold. Upon impact, the undercarriage were torn off and the aircraft slid on its belly for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All six crew members evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air in Touba

Date & Time: Jul 21, 1990 at 1200 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

TU-VBB

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Yamoussoukro - Touba

MSN:

BB-295

YOM:

1977

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Following a wrong approach configuration, the twin engine aircraft landed too far down the runway 23 which is 1,600 meters long. After touchdown, the crew realized that the landing distance available was too short and decided to veer off runway. The aircraft rolled on a grassy area and came to rest. All 12 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the aircraft landed too far down the runway after the crew continued the approach too high on the glide. The braking action was poor because the runway surface was wet which was considered as a contributing factor.

Crash of a Fokker F28 Fellowship 4000 in Man

Date & Time: Dec 30, 1989 at 1600 LT

Type of aircraft:

Fokker F28 Fellowship

Operator:

Registration:

TU-TIK

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site: