Africa

The airplane departed Ouagadougou on a flight to Abidjan, carrying seven passengers, three crew members and military equipment on behalf of the French Army (antiterrorist operation 'Barkhane'). On approach to Abidjan-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport, the crew encountered poor visibility due to heavy rain falls. On short final, the aircraft descended below MDA, impacted water and crashed in the sea few hundred metres short of runway 03. Six occupants were rescued while four others including all three crew members were killed. The aircraft was destroyed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were below minimums.

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.

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.

Shortly after takeoff from Goma Airport, while on a cargo flight to Bunia, the crew reported technical problems with the right engine and was cleared to return for an emergency landing. The crew landed long (about half way down the runway) and after touchdown, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran and while contacting lava ground, the right main gear and the nose gear collapsed. The airplane came to rest with its right wing bent and all four crew members evacuated safely.

After touchdown on runway 33 at Maban Airport, South Sudan, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance and overran. It lost its undercarriage and came to rest, bursting into flames. All crew members evacuated safely and the aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire. The crew was completing a cargo flight on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

On 29th July, 2017 at about 0905hrs, an Antonov aircraft Model AN-74TK-100, flight CVK7087, registration UR-CKC, owned by SWIFT SOLUTION FZC and operated by CAVOK Airlines LLC was departing Sao Tome International Airport to Kotoka International Airport, Accra, for positioning with six crew on board. The flight was on an Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) flight plan and Visual Meteorological Conditions prevailed. The aircraft exited runway 29 during a rejected take off. The Flight Navigator sustained an injury and the aircraft was destroyed. On 28th July, 2017 at 0225hrs the aircraft arrived Sao Tome International Airport from Stavanger (Norway), via Luxemburg and Ghardaia (Algeria) as a Cargo flight. On 29th July, 2017 at about 0800hrs, the crew of CVK 7087 comprising the Captain, the First Officer, the Flight Engineer, the Flight Navigator and 2 Maintenance Engineers arrived the airport and commenced the flight preparation; pre-flight inspection, determination of weight and balance, computation of performance and take-off speeds. The crew received flight briefing/weather information and refuelled the aircraft with an uplift of 5,700kg. At 0850hrs, the crew requested engine start-up clearance from Sao Tome Tower and it was approved. After completing the engine start procedures, engine parameter indications on both engines were normal. Appropriate checklist was completed and taxi clearance was requested by the crew. Sao Tome Tower initially cleared CVK 7087 to taxi on runway (RWY) 11 as favoured by the prevailing wind. However, the crew requested RWY 29 for departure. This request was approved by the Tower and the aircraft re-cleared to taxi to RWY 29 for departure. Sao Tome Tower did not provide the flight crew with the information about possible presence of birds at the aerodrome, in particular, on the runway. At 0905hrs, the aircraft began the take-off roll. The First Officer was the Pilot Flying (PF) while the Captain was the Pilot Monitoring (PM). The engines and systems parameters were reported to be normal. According to the Captain, "In the first half of the take-off run from the runway, from five to six eagles got off the ground of the runway and flew dangerously close to the aircraft". He then requested the Flight Engineer to check if the flood lights were ON and to monitor the engine parameters. The crew asserted that they observed a rising and narrowing runway as the aircarft accelerated to a speed of 180 km/hr. They stated further: "At a speed of 180 km/hr, ahead, a flock of eagles, which were not seen before this moment began to get off the ground from the runway." The Captain took control of the aircraft and decided, after assessing the situation within 4 seconds that the best option for the crew was to discontinue the take-off. At that moment, the crew heard a bang, which they suggested could be a bird strike. This was followed by aural and visual indications on the annunciator panel such as “Left Engine Failure”, “Dangerous Vibration”, and “Take-off is prohibited” and the Captain immediately initiated a rejected take-off and instructed the Flight Engineer to deploy thrust reversers. The rejected takeoff was initiated about 5 seconds after sighting the birds, at a speed of 220km/h. According to the Captain, his decision was necessitated by the consideration of losing multiple engines due to bird strike if the take-off continued. The Captain said he pressed the brake pedals completely immediately after initiating the rejected take-off, subsequently he assessed the braking action as not effective and he used the emergency braking at a speed of about 130 km/h. On realizing that the aircraft would not stop within the remaining available runway length (about 272.3m) coupled with the presence of a ravine at the end, the captain intentionally veered to the right in order to extend the runway stopping distance and also avoid the ravine. The aircraft exited the runway at a speed of approximately 76 km/h. As the aircraft’s speed decayed to 60 km/h and just before the aircraft exited the runway, the Captain instructed the Flight Engineer to close the fuel emergency shutoff cock. The aircraft travelled a distance of about 95m from the exit point before plunging into the ravine. In the process, the forward fuselage separated from the bulkhead located immediately after the cockpit section. The aircraft came to rest at a location with coordinates: N002° 2' 51'' and E006° 42' 07''. The accident occurred in daylight at about 0905hrs.

Following an uneventful cloud seeding mission over the region of Mopti, the pilot was returning to Bamako-Senou Airport. For unknown reasons, the aircraft made a belly landing and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest on the right side of runway 06/24. The pilot escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On 3rd June 2016 at 1120 hours, a Fokker 27/Mk600 registration 5Y-FMM operated by Safari Express Cargo Ltd, courtesy of the WFP was ferrying relief supplies from Mogadishu to Garbaharrey Airport was involved in an accident on landing at the destination airport. On touch down, the right hand main landing gear collapsed resulting from a collision with an obstacle of approximately 2 meter high on short final approach. The aircraft subsequently had a runway excursion to the starboard side. A segment of the right hand wing contacted the ground and was severed off from the rest of the wing with ensuing fuel spillage and fire. All the four propeller blades of the starboard engine contacted the ground surface and suffered rearwards bends. The fire was however contained before spreading further. All four crew members were able to evacuate safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Following an unventful flight from Entebbe, the twin engine airplane made a belly landing at Mogadishu-Aden Abdulle Airport. After touchdown, it slid for few hundre metres before coming to rest. All four crew members evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

During the takeoff roll, at a relative high speed, the pilot-in-command rejected takeoff and initiated an emergency braking procedure, apparently following an engine problem. The twin engine aircraft deviated to the left and veered off runway. While contacting soft ground, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest in the bush. All 20 occupants were rescued, among them both pilots were slightly injured.