Crash of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan in Empakaai Camp: 11 killed

Date & Time: Nov 15, 2017 at 1113 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5H-EGG
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
MSN:
208B-0476
YOM:
1995
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane departed Arusha Airport on a charter flight to the Serengeti National Park, carrying 10 tourists and one pilot. While flying in marginal weather conditions, the aircraft impacted hilly terrain near Empakaai Camp and was destroyed upon impact. All 11 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Beechcraft B200C Super King Air in Nuevo Saposoa

Date & Time: Oct 19, 2017 at 1149 LT
Operator:
Registration:
OB-2077-P
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Contamana – Pucallpa
MSN:
BL-5
YOM:
1980
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
11
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
17659
Copilot / Total flying hours:
334
Copilot / Total hours on type:
131
Aircraft flight hours:
12334
Aircraft flight cycles:
9666
Circumstances:
The twin engine aircraft departed Contamana Airport at 1128LT on a charter flight to Pucallpa, carrying 11 passengers and two pilots. Few minutes after takeoff, while climbing to an altitude of 4,500 feet, the right engine lost power and failed. The crerw decided to return to Contamana but was able to transfer fuel from the left tank to the right tank to restart the right engine. Decision was taken to continue to Pucallpa at an altitude of 13,500 feet. At a distance of 42 km from Pucallpa, the crew started the descent when the right engine failed again, followed shortly later by the left engine. The captain declared an emergency and attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in a wooded area. All 13 occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.
Probable cause:
Double engine failure in flight due to fuel starvation, forcing the crew to attempt an emergency landing in trees.
The following contributing factors were identified:
- Recurrent failures on the ground and in flight of the aircraft fuel quantity indicators, a situation that was maintained because the Maintenance Programme did not include an inspection and calibration of the fuel quantity gauges.
- Initiating the flight with a fuel indication system inoperative.
- Complacency on part of the crew who decided to continue the flight by having an aerodrome nearby after the first engine failure.
Final Report:

Crash of an Embraer EMB-120RT Brasília near Cuilo: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 12, 2017 at 1715 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
D2-FDO
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dundo – Luanda
MSN:
120-082
YOM:
1988
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The twin engine aircraft departed Dundo Airport at 1658LT on an ambulance flight to Luanda, carrying three doctors, one patient from South Africa and three crew members. About 15 minutes into the flight, the crew reported engine problems when one of them caught fire shortly later. The airplane went out of control and crashed in an open field located near Cuilo, about 170 km southwest of Dundo. All seven occupants were killed.

Crash of a PZL-Mielec AN-28 in Mezhdurechenskoye: 5 killed

Date & Time: Oct 4, 2017 at 1853 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
UP-A2807
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Almaty - Shymkent
MSN:
1AJ007-14
YOM:
1990
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Captain / Total flying hours:
12000
Captain / Total hours on type:
2930.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
486
Copilot / Total hours on type:
110
Aircraft flight hours:
3631
Aircraft flight cycles:
3197
Circumstances:
The twine engine airplane departed Almaty Airport at 1835LT on an ambulance flight to Shymkent, carrying two doctors, two pilots and one flight mechanic. About 22 minutes into the flight, while cruising by night and poor weather conditions, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and was forced to shut down the right engine. Shortly later, the aircraft crashed near the village of Mezhdurechenskoye, some 28 km northwest of Almaty Airport, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all five occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The probable cause of the accident was the shut down of the right engine and then the left engine, possibly due to a faulty shut down on part of the crew. In the course of the subsequent emergency descent due to complete loss of power of the engines with no radio communication with air traffic controllers, as well as possibly due to the resulting confusion and nervousness, the crew unintentionally forgot to switch the pressure value on the mechanical barometric altimeter of the aircraft to the pressure on the landing airfield (704 mm Hg), leaving the pressure value of 760 mm Hg, which led to incorrect readings of true altitude of the flight. Subsequently, the crew was able to start the engines and attempt to make a forced landing at a distance of 28 km from the airfield of Almaty at night in poor weather conditions in an unlit area. Incorrect readings on the barometric altimeter of the true flight altitude (the radio altimeter showed 750 m) resulted in the aircraft colliding with a power line, causing a fire, as well as colliding with the ground, as a result of which the aircraft structure completely collapsed and burned down.
Final Report:

Crash of a Cessna 401B in Salters: 2 killed

Date & Time: Oct 4, 2017 at 1745 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
N401HH
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Salters - Salters
MSN:
401B-0004
YOM:
1969
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total flying hours:
15000
Aircraft flight hours:
5557
Circumstances:
The commercial pilot and passenger departed on a local flight in the twin-engine airplane. According to a witness, the pilot took off from the private grass runway and departed the area for about 10 minutes. The airplane then returned to the airport, where the pilot performed a low pass over the runway and entered a steep climb followed by a roll. The airplane entered a nose-low descent, then briefly leveled off in an upright attitude before disappearing behind trees and subsequently impacting terrain. The pilot's toxicology testing was positive for ethanol with 0.185 gm/dl and 0.210 gm/dl in urine and cavity blood samples, respectively. The effects of ethanol are generally well understood; it significantly impairs pilot performance, even at very low levels. Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit any person from acting or attempting to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft while having 0.040 gm/dl or more ethanol in the blood. While the identified ethanol may have come from sources other than ingestion, such as postmortem production, the possibility that the source of some of the ethanol was from ingestion and that pilot was impaired by the effects of ethanol during the accident flight could not be ruled out. Toxicology also identified a significant amount of diphenhydramine in cavity blood (0.122 µg/ml, which is within or above the therapeutic range of 0.0250 to 0.1120 µg/ml; diphenhydramine undergoes postmortem redistribution, and central postmortem levels may be about two to three times higher than peripheral or antemortem levels.). Diphenhydramine is a sedating antihistamine that causes more sedation than other antihistamines; this is the rationale for its use as a sleep aid. In a driving simulator study, a single dose of diphenhydramine impaired driving ability more than a blood alcohol concentration of 0.100%. The pilot had been diagnosed with memory loss about 8 months before the accident. It appears that he had some degree of mild cognitive impairment, but whether his cognitive impairment was severe enough to have contributed to the accident could not be determined from the available evidence. However, it is likely that the pilot's mild cognitive impairment combined with the psychoactive effects of diphenhydramine and possibly ethanol would have further decreased his cognitive functioning and contributed to his decision to attempt an aerobatic maneuver at low altitude in a non-aerobatic airplane.
Probable cause:
The pilot's decision to attempt a low-altitude aerobatic maneuver in a non-aerobatic airplane, and his subsequent failure to maintain control of the airplane during the maneuver.
Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impairment by the effects of diphenhydramine use, and his underlying mild cognitive impairment.
Final Report:

Crash of an Antonov AN-12B near Kinshasa: 12 killed

Date & Time: Sep 30, 2017 at 0730 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
EX-001
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Kinshasa – Bukavu
MSN:
5 3 436 06
YOM:
1965
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
12
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft departed Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport on a flight to Bukavu, carrying ammunition and two vehicles. Few minutes after takeoff, the crew reported technical problems and was cleared for an immediate return. Shortly later, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a prairie located in Nsele, about 20 km northeast of the airport, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all 12 occupants were killed.

Crash of a Cessna 421B Golden Eagle II in Noviny pod Ralskem: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 26, 2017 at 0736 LT
Operator:
Registration:
OK-TKF
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Příbram – Gdansk
MSN:
421B-0931
YOM:
1975
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total flying hours:
675
Captain / Total hours on type:
47.00
Aircraft flight hours:
6381
Aircraft flight cycles:
6797
Circumstances:
The twin engine airplane departed Příbram Airport Runway 06 at 0705LT on a charter flight to Gdansk, carrying one passenger and one pilot. About 30 minutes into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 14,100 feet, the pilot was cleared to climb to FL180 when he declared an emergency and reported the failure of both engines. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a wooded area located 1,5 km northeast of Noviny pod Ralskem, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and both occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The cause of the accident was an inner mechanical defect in the left engine past its stipulated TSO. The defect caused a forced stall of the engine. For this reason, the propeller on this engine could not be feathered. During the shutdown of the right engine, the feathering of the propeller on this engine did not take place. The aircraft entered to the fall and a stall-spin in which it fell to the ground.
Contributing factors:
- The left engine TSO was over the stipulated limit of 12 years. (The last general overhaul was performed on 29 October 2001.),
- Limited experience of the pilot on this type of aircraft.
Final Report:

Crash of a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain near San Vicente: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 13, 2017 at 1500 LT
Operator:
Registration:
XB-OUE
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Toluca – Acapulco
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
En route from Toluca to Acapulco, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions. In limited visibility, the twin engine airplane struck hilly and wooded terrain in the Sierra de Chilpancingo, near San Vicente. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and both occupants were killed.

Crash of a BAe 125-700 near Hato Viejo: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 4, 2017
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances near Hato Viejo, State of Cojedes. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire and both pilots were killed. It is believed that the flight was illegal and the airplane was completing a drug smuggling flight.

Crash of a PZL-Mielec AN-2 in Chernoye: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 2, 2017 at 1215 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
RA-35171
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Chernoye - Chernoye
MSN:
1G113-10
YOM:
1969
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total flying hours:
12023
Captain / Total hours on type:
52.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
641
Aircraft flight hours:
19721
Circumstances:
The aircraft was engaged in a demonstration flight, taking part to an airshow at Chernoye Aerodrome, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Antonov AN-2. The pilot-in-command completed a steep turn to the left to join the grassy runway. The airplane descended too low and impacted ground with its left wing and crashed 180 metres further, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed and both occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The most likely cause of the crash of the An-2 RA-35171 was the failure of the PIC to pilot the An-2 aircraft at high flight speeds (an increase in the time required for the aircraft to leave the bank due to the decrease in the angles of the aileron deflection due to the pulling of the cable line due to a significant increase in forces in the transverse of the control channel at speeds of 270-300 km/h), which did not allow the aircraft to arrest the descent when maneuvering with large angles of bank at an extremely low flight altitude.
The contributing factors were:
- Piloting the aircraft at modes beyond the limits set by the AFM of the An-2 aircraft;
- Maneuvering at an altitude less than that established for performing a demonstration flight over the aerodrome.
Final Report: