Tanzania

On 1 November 1997 at 09:46 hours 5H-AZM took off from Nairobi Wilson airport, for a visual flight rules flight to Zanzibar International Airport, Tanzania. It was carrying one pilot and some cargo. There were no passengers. The flight plan indicated that the aircraft had 0330 hours of fuel on departure. The pilot planned' to fly a direct route to Zanzibar with Dar-es-salaam International airport as his alternate aerodrome. After take off from Nairobi Wilson, the flight transited the southern axis lane of the Nairobi control Zone to the zone boundary. The pilot checked the Nairobi zone boundary with Nairobi Wilson Tower and was instructed by air traffic control to contact the Nairobi Control Centre. No contact was reported established by Nairobi Control with 5H-AZM. 5H-AZM contacted the Kilimanjaro Control Tower at 10:20 hours and passed his own ward estimates as Flight Information Region 10:25 hours and arrival at Zanzibar at 11:40 hours. 5H-AZM was advised that there was no reported traffic for the flight in the Kilimanjaro Terminal Control area at 'the VFR flight level 115, and at the same time instructed the aircraft to contact Dar-es-salaam Control on 119.6 MHz when in range. No further transmission was received from the aircraft. It also failed to arrive in Zanzibar. Unfruitful formal searches (involving communications, aerial and ground searches) were mounted on 3 November 1997 along the probable route area in Kenya and Tanzania. The formal search was terminated on 4 December 1997 and there after the missing aircraft incident was considered to be an 'accident. Wreckage was eventually located in the Kibo Crater near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on 28 August 2003, almost six years later. The wreckage of the Piper PA 31-350 was found at 15,400 feet on the Kibo wing. It was also 30 nautical miles west of its projected track. The aircraft had earlier been cleared to climb from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet under visual flight rules.

Upon landing, the left main gear collapsed. The aircraft slid on its belly and came to rest, bursting into flames. There were no casualties.

The aircraft was operating a company charter flight. It took off from Dar es salaam International airport at 0418 hrs for a flight to Morogoro where it was to pick passengers destined for Tabora. The pilot was the oni y occupant. At 0419:49 hrs 5H-TZD passed to the Dar Control Tower his estimates for TMA as 0439 hrs and Morogoro 0449 hrs. At 0425:13 hrs the aircraft reported to be maintaining flight level 60 and the Dar es Salaam Approach (which was then combined with the Tower advised him to maintain FL060 and to report on checking the TMA boundary. Subsequent to this and at about the same time 5H-TZD contacted the Military base located at Ngerengere on 118.25 MHz and requested permission to transit the Military area (HT) P6 (A) UNLI/GND. Permission was not granted because the area was active. (The pilot subsequently advised Ngerengere that he was to proceed to Morogoro by flying south of the Prohibited Area. The last communication between the aircraft and Ngerengere took place at 0439 hrs when the aircraft was south of Ngerengere. At 0440.08 hrs 5H-TZD called on 118.3 MHz (the Dar es Salaam Tower frequency) advising that he was transmitting blind and revised the TMA estimate to 0441 hours FL60. The ETA for Morogoro was a1so revised to 0451 hours. He was to call on Top of Descent. At 0440:31 hrs the Dar Tower acknow1edged the transmission. Subsequent to this a sound which resembled a series ot clicks of the mike was heard in the Dar Tower. There was no further Communication between 5H-TZD and the Dar es Salaam Tower. At 0850 hrs the owner of the aircraft telephoned the Dar es salaam Control Centre to alert that 5H-TZD had not landed at Morogoro. The Dar ACC instituted an ALERT PHASE and activated the Rescue Coordination Centre. The wreckage of this aircraft was discovered by villagers on top of Palapala mountains on 5 May 1996. The search and rescue effort took 11 days because of adverse weather conditions, the thick tropical vegetation at the crash site and the fact that the route of the aircraft was not known.

Shortly after takeoff from Liuli Airstrip, while climbing, the pilot made a sharp turn to avoid a sand dune when he lost control of the aircraft that crashed on the ground. There were no casualties but the aircraft was written off.

Shortly after takeoff from Tabora Airfield, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft encountered difficulties to gain height, stalled and crashed 130 metres past the runway end. All six occupants were injured.

After landing at Siwandu Airfield, the twin engine airplane collided with a giraffe. The animal was killed and the aircraft was destroyed. The pilot escaped uninjured.

On final approach to Bukoba Airport, the aircraft was too low when one of its wing struck a tree. The aircraft lost height and crashed on a clinic. Both pilots were killed while there were no victims on the ground.

Following a night takeoff from Ngara Airstrip, the twin engine aircraft struck obstacles with its left wing, lost height and crashed, bursting into flames. The pilot, sole on board, was slightly injured and the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

The crew was completing a local training flight at Dar es Salaam Airport. The aircraft landed at an excessive speed and in a flapless configuration. Upon touchdown, the undercarriage were torn off and the aircraft came to rest on its belly. Both pilots escaped uninjured but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While approaching Zanzibar Airport by night on a positioning flight from Dar es-Salaam, the twin engine airplane went out of control and crashed in the sea off Chenguu Island, few hundred metres offshore. The pilot, sole on board was killed.