Flight

The single engine aircraft was completing a flight from Kevsala (Ipatovo district of the Stavropol region) to Gribnoye, in the Novopavlovsk district, carrying one pilot and four oil drums. En route, while approaching Sanamer at low altitude, the pilot encountered engine problems and attempted an emergency landing. After touchdown, the aircraft hit a fence, crushed some trees and came to rest against the wall of a church. The pilot was seriously injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was performing a delivery flight from Stauning (Denmark) to Klaipėda with an intermediate stop in Kattleberg, Sweden. Recently acquired by the company for agricultural purposes, the single engine aircraft departed Kattleberg Airfield at 1312LT with an ETA in Klaipėda at 1720LT. En route, the crew informed ATC about their position at 1508LT. Less than half an hour later, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in unknown circumstances in the Baltic Sea, some 111 km off Klaipėda. The crew of a Lithuanian Marine vessel located the wreckage three days later at a depth of 124 meters. A dead body was found on May 21. The second pilot was not found.

The four engine seaplane departed Iwakuni AFB to conduct a training mission over the sea, carrying 19 crew members from the 31st Squadron. For unknown reasons, the crew was apparently forced to attempt an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in the sea some 40 km northeast of Cape Ashizuri. The aircraft lost an engine and a float and came to rest partially submerged. All 19 occupants were rescued, among them four were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On 13 April 2015, Carson Air Ltd. flight 66 (CA66), a Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II (registration C-GSKC, serial number TC-235), departed Vancouver International Airport (CYVR), British Columbia, with 2 pilots on board for an instrument flight rules flight to Prince George, British Columbia. At 0709 Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), approximately 6 minutes after leaving Vancouver, the aircraft disappeared from air traffic control radar while climbing through an altitude of 8700 feet above sea level in instrument meteorological conditions, about 4 nautical miles north of the built-up area of North Vancouver. Deteriorating weather conditions with low cloud and heavy snowfall hampered an air search; however, aircraft wreckage was found on steep, mountainous, snow-covered terrain by ground searchers at approximately 1645 PDT. The aircraft had experienced a catastrophic in-flight breakup. Both pilots were fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed. Although the aircraft’s 406-megahertz emergency locator transmitter activated, the antenna was damaged and no signal was received by the Cospas-Sarsat (international satellite system for search and rescue). The accident occurred during daylight hours.

Crashed in unknown circumstances near Cañaote, State of Cojedes. The wreckage was found the following morning. The aircraft was destroyed, all three occupants were killed and a load of 999 kilos of cocaine was found among the debris.

The crew was completing a training sortie from the Dabolim-Hansa Naval Air Station, State of Goa, on behalf of the 310th Naval Air Squadron. While flying by night, the twin engine aircraft crashed in the Indian Ocean about 45 km southwest of Dabolim Airport. A pilot was rescued and both other occupants (a second pilot and an observer) were killed.

The pilot reported that, during the postmaintenance test flight, the turboprop engine lost power. The airplane was unable to maintain altitude, and the pilot conducted a forced landing, during which the airplane was substantially damaged. The engine had about 9 total flight hours at the time of the accident. A teardown of the fuel pump revealed that the high-pressure drive gear teeth exhibited wear and that material was missing from them, whereas the driven gear exhibited little to no visible wear. A metallurgical examination of the gears revealed that the damaged drive gear was made of a material similar to 300-series stainless steel instead of the harder specified M50 steel, whereas the driven gear was made of a material similar to the specified M50 steel. Subsequent to these findings, the airplane manufacturer determined that the gear manufacturer allowed three set-up gears made from 300-series stainless steel to become part of the production inventory during the manufacturing process. One of those gears was installed in the fuel pump on the accident airplane, and the location of the two other gears could not be determined. Based on the evidence, it is likely that the nonconforming gear installed in the fuel pump failed because it was manufactured from a softer material than specified, which resulted in a loss of fuel flow to the engine and the subsequent loss of engine power. The manufacturer subsequently inspected its stock of gears and issued notices to customers that had engines with fuel pumps installed with the same part number gear set as the one installed on the accident airplane. The manufacturer also issued a service information letter and service bulletins regarding the fuel pump gear set for engines used in civilian and military applications. As of the date of this report, the two remaining gears have not been located.

The aircraft left Barcelona at 1000LT on a scheduled flight to Düsseldorf (flight 4U9525/GWI18G). At 1032LT, one minute after reaching its assigned cruising altitude of 38,000 feet near Toulon (level off), the aircraft started to lose altitude and continued a straight in descent during nine minutes, until it reached the altitude of 6,800 feet. It was later confirmed that no distress call was sent by the crew. Radar contact was lost at a height of 6,800 feet at 1041LT when the aircraft hit a mountain slope located near Prads-Haute-Bléone, northeast of Digne-les-Bains. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as good with no storm activity, reasonable wind component and no turbulence. The crash site was reached by first rescuers in the afternoon and the aircraft disintegrated on impact. None of the 150 occupants survived the crash. The second black box (DFDR) was found on April 2, nine days after the accident.

The aircraft left an airfield located somewhere in the State of Apure, Venezuela, apparently bound for the US with three people on board. While flying north of Punto Fijo, above the sea, the crew was contacted by ATC but failed to respond. Convinced this was an illegal flight, the Venezuelan Authorities decided to send a fighter to intercept the Challenger that was shot down. Out of control, it dove into the Caribbean Sea and crashed off the coast of Aruba Island. All three occupants were killed and on site, more than 400 boxes containing cocaine were found.

The aircraft was completing a geophysical mission on behalf of Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics, with two pilots on board. En route, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft crash landed in a rocky terrain, lost its undercarriage and came to rest. Both occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.