Scheduled Revenue Flight

The three engine aircraft departed Irkutsk-Magan Airport at 2229LT bound to the north, cruising at an altitude of 6,000 meters. Weather conditions en route were good. While descending to Bratsk Airport, the crew was informed about the last weather bulletin with no precipitations and a visibility of 50 km. However, during the night approach, weather conditions deteriorated with heavy mixed rain/snow showers and a visibility limited to one km. On short final, the airplane lost height then struck trees and crashed in flames 225 meters further, about 1,250 meters short of runway threshold. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 18 occupants were killed.

On a flight from Chernivtsi to Odessa, the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path to the south by 15 km in poor visibility and rain. It entered an area near Glinoye (Grigoriopol district of Moldova) where two radio masts were located (only one of them was indicated on the charts, but with wrong coordinates). The pilot was able to avoid the first mast (350 meters) but not the second. At a height of 200 meters, the single engine airplane collided struck the second one (260 meters high), caught fire and crashed 280 meters further on in a field of the sovkhoz (state farm) Karmanovo. All 3 crew and the sole passenger were killed.

After landing at Rock Sound Airport, the twin engine aircraft came to rest in flames. There were no injuries but the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

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.

While cruising at an altitude of 15,000 feet in marginal weather conditions on a flight from Rome to Foggia, the airplane lost 1,200 feet while its speed dropped 30 knots. It nosed down to 20° then crashed at a speed of 340 knots in an open field located near Frosinone, about 75 km southeast of Rome. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and all 18 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was flying in a thunderstorm area.
Crew:
Paolo Lombardino, pilot,
Vittorio Pedemonte, copilot,
Clemente Basile, flight engineer.

Following an uneventful flight from São Paulo-Congonhas Airport, the crew started the descent to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport from the north. While flying at an altitude of 5,000 feet by night and in marginal weather conditions, the crew informed ATC he just passed over AF NDB. Two minutes later, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near Petrópolis, about 50 km north of Santos Dumont Airport. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 25 occupants were killed.

Suffered heavy icing conditions and crashed in a field located in Sterlitamak. There were no casualties.

While descending to Omsk Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility due to snow showers. On final, as he was unable to locate the runway, the captain abandoned the approach and initiated a go-around. Three other attempts to land were abandoned within the next minutes. During the fifth approach, the crew descended too low when the airplane struck a snow wall located just short of runway threshold and crash landed. There were no casualties.

While approaching Aden Airport in limited visibility, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Shamsan located about 5 km south of runway 08 threshold. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 30 occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as marginal with limited visibility. For unknown reason, the crew was attempting to land under VFR mode.

On final approach to Albany by night and marginal weather conditions, the crew encountered technical problems with the left engine propeller cruise lock system. The propeller could not be feathered and the airplane lost height and eventually crashed onto two houses located 3,8 miles short of runway 01 threshold. Two crew members and 14 passengers as well as one people on the ground were killed. The aircraft and two houses were destroyed.