Landing (descent or approach)

The twin engine aircraft departed Libreville on a charter flight to Moanda, carrying employees of the Société d’Électricité et d’Énergie du Gabon (S.E.E.G.). While approaching Moanda, the crew was cleared to descent to 4,100 feet and encountered poor visibility due to fog. On short final, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed 1,600 metres short of runway 14. A pilot and two passengers were killed while seven other occupants were injured.

The aircraft was engaged in an expedition over the Arctic and was completing a flight from Longyearbyen (Spitzberg Islands) to Barrow, Alaska, with another Cessna 185. The crew of the Cessna landed first to check the ice thickness. When the AN-2 landed, the ice started to crack. The pilot attempted to takeoff but the undercarriage went through the ice and the aircraft came to rest partially submerged in water. All five occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The airplane bounced on landing and started to swerve on the landing roll. The pilot attempted a go-around. The left engine hesitated and the right engine developed power. The pilot lost directional control, the airplane went off the left side of the runway and collapsed the left main landing gear.

The airplane collided with mountainous terrain after the flight crew terminated the instrument approach and proceeded visually at night. The flight crew failed to brief or review the instrument approach procedure prior to takeoff and exhibited various cognitive task deficiencies during the approach. These cognitive task deficiencies included selection of the wrong frequency for pilot controlled lighting, concluding that the airport was obscured by clouds despite weather information to the contrary, stating inaccurate information regarding instrument approach headings and descent altitudes, and descending below appropriate altitudes during the approach. This resulted in the crew's lack of awareness regarding terrain in the approach path. Pilots approaching a runway over a dark featureless terrain may experience an illusion that the airplane is at a higher altitude that it actually is. In response to this illusion, referred to as the featureless terrain illusion or black hole phenomenon, a pilot may fly a lower than normal approach potentially compromising terrain clearance requirements. The dark visual scene on the approach path and the absence of a visual glideslope indicator were conducive to producing a false perception that the airplane was at a higher altitude. A ground proximity warning device may have alerted the crew prior to impact. However, the amount of advanced warning that may have been provided by such a device was not determined. Although the flight crew's performance was consistent with fatigue-related impairment, based on available information, the Safety Board staff was unable to determine to what extent the cognitive task deficiencies exhibited by the flight crew were attributable to fatigue and decreased alertness.

Upon landing at Bocas del Toro, in unclear circumstances, the aircraft went out of control and veered off runway. It lost its undercarriage and came to rest in a sugarcane field. All eight occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Upon landing at Rottweil-Zepfenhan Airport, during the last segment, at a height of about 5-10 metres, the aircraft rolled to the left. The pilot initiated a go-around procedure when control was lost. The aircraft crashed and burned. The pilot was injured.

The twin engine aircraft was descending to Kurupung Airstrip in marginal weather conditions when it collided with trees and crashed in a wooded area located in hilly terrain. The pilot, sole on board, was killed. The aircraft was on its way to Kurupung to deliver fuel drums.

The aircraft departed Farnborough Airport at 11h22 on a charter flight to Nice with two pilots and three passengers on board, among them the F1 driver David Coulthard. At 12h22, cruising at FL390, the left engine of the aircraft suffered a failure. The crew shut down and began to descend. They declared an emergency and asked to fly to the nearest aerodrome with a runway longer than one thousand six hundred metres. Lyon-Satolas Airport, located about 62 NM away left abeam of the aircraft, was proposed. The descent with one engine shut down towards Lyon-Satolas was undertaken under radar guidance, at a high speed and with a high rate of descent. At 12h35, the pilot stabilised the aircraft at 3,000 feet, intercepted the runway 36L ILS and was cleared to land. The final was started at 233 knots according to radar data and the slow down progressive. At 12h36 min 45 s, the flaps were extended to 8°. According to the radar data, the aircraft was then at 2,400 feet, 4,4 NM from the runway threshold and at a speed of 184 knots. At 12h36 min 58 s, the landing gear was extended. At 12h37 in 03 s, the flaps were set to 20°. According to the radar data, the aircraft was then at 2,100 feet, 3,5 NM from the runway threshold at a speed of 180 knots. No malfunctions or additional problems were announced to the ATC by the crew during the final approach. At 12h38 min 08 s, the copilot told the captain that the aircraft was a little low. According to the radar data, the aircraft was then at 1,100 feet, 0,9 NM from the runway threshold at a speed of 155 knots. At 12h38 min 17 s, he repeated his warning and announced a speed 10 knots above the approach reference speed. At 12h38 min 22 s, the copilot again stated that the aircraft was a little low on the approach path and immediately afterwards asked the captain to increase the thrust. According to the radar data, the aircraft was then at 900 feet, 0,1 NM from the runway threshold at a speed of 150 knots. At 12h38 min 24 s, the captain indicated that he was losing control of the aircraft. The aircraft, over the runway threshold, banked sharply to the left, touched the ground with its wing, crashed and caught fire. Both pilots were killed while all three passengers evacuated with minor injuries.

The aircraft departed London-Gatwick Airport on a cargo flight to Entebbe, carrying seven crew members and a load of 50 tons of various goods. After landing by night on runway 17, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance (runway 17/35 is 12,000 feet long), overran and plunged in the Lake Victoria. The aircraft broke in two and all seven crew members were rescued 10 minutes later.

The pilot said he performed three-point touchdown, landing to the east on a grass airstrip. He said, '... as we landed, the tail wanted to come up, so I pulled the stick all the way back and held
it back ... while I was reaching to lift the flaps off.' The pilot said that before he got the flaps retracted, he noticed the tail was coming up again. He ensured that the power was off and his feet were off the brakes. 'The airplane came up on its nose. We were almost stopped before we flipped on our back over the nose.' The pilot said that when he later returned to the airplane, he noticed the 'T-handle brake lever was 3/4 engaged.' Examination of the airplane revealed heavy longitudinally running grass rubbing on both tires. The brake discs were free and the wheels rotated freely. An examination of the field showed a pair of parallel-running tire marks moving toward the north side of the landing strip, and 11 succeeding slashes in the ground running perpendicular to the parallel tire tracks on the airplane's left side. An examination of the remaining airplane systems revealed no anomalies. Wind conditions, reported 14 minutes after the accident, were 010° at 7 knots.