Africa

En route to Zanzibar, while cruising at an altitude of 21,000 feet, the right engine failed. The pilot decided to divert to Arusha Airport when few minutes later, while passing 16,000 feet on descent, the left engine failed as well. The pilot attempted to ditch the aircraft into Lake Manyara. The aircraft belly landed and came to rest in shallow water, bent in two. All seven occupants were rescued by fishermen and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The four engine aircraft departed Dire Dawa on a special flight to Mogadishu, carrying 6 crew members and a load consisting of weapons and ammunition intended for the AMISOM, the African Union Mission in Somalia. After landing, the aircraft skidded on runway, overran and crashed against a perimeter wall, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post impact fire fed by ammunition which caused multiple explosions. Four crew were killed while two others were seriously injured.

Shortly after takeoff from a remote airstrip in Merugwayi, while flying in bad weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft crashed in a wilderness located in Kapingiro, near Merugwayi. All seven occupants were injured, the copilot aged 23 seriously. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Among passengers were several doctors who provided medical services to locals leaving in the remote district.

The twin engine aircraft departed South Africa on a flight to Tanzania with intermediate stops in Tete and Lilongwe, carrying one passenger and one pilot. The aircraft was en route to Dar es-Salaam to perform a Lidar (Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) mission. En route, the pilot encountered engine problems and elected to make an emergency landing. Upon landing in an open field, the aircraft lost its tail and crashed landed about 45 km southwest of Lilongwe. Both occupants were rescued and the aircraft was destroyed.

The crew was performing a cargo flight from Lanseria to Lubumbashi with an intermediate stop at Francistown Airport to refuel, and the aircraft was carrying a load of ion exchange resins for water purification. During an early morning approach, the crew encountered poor visibility due to foggy conditions, abandoned the approach and initiated a go-around procedure. During a second approach from the opposite direction, the crew informed ATC he established a visual contact with the runway when the aircraft crashed in a bushy area located some 4,6 km short of runway.

The single engine aircraft departed Moundou (Chad) on a flight to Douala, Cameroon, carrying three passengers and two pilots on behalf of CotonTchad, the Chadian National Coton Company (Société Cotonnière du Tchad). En route, the crew informed ATC about engine problems and elected to divert to N'Gaoundéré Airport. On final approach, the aircraft stalled and crashed in a marshy field located near the airport. All five occupants were injured, both crew seriously. Few hours later, the captain died from his injuries. The aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft was completing a humanitarian flight to Doro Airfield, South Sudan, carrying four crew members and a load consisting of food. After landing, the aircraft went out of control, veered off runway, struck a drainage ditch and came to rest against an earth mound. All four occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft was planned to fly from Lanseria airport (FALA) in Republic of South Africa to Bamako airport (GABS) in Mali with a stopover in Ondangwa airport (FYOA) in Namibia, São Tomé International airport (FPST) in São Tomé and Príncipe and Accra airport (DGAA) in Ghana, with a rough estimating time of approximately 15hrs flying, not including the ground time at airports of stopover. The aircraft had been in Lanseria airport (FALA) in Republic of South Africa (RSA) for maintenance check (including but not limited to engine work and interior refurbishing). Prior to the planned flight, the aircraft underwent flight check for 45 minutes after completed planned maintenance on Saturday, April 6th, flown by the Captain and another SAS company pilot. The aircraft departed FALA to FYOA for its first stop over whose flight time was 03:35h. The planned departure from FYOA was delayed due to trouble in starting the right engine. The aircraft took off at 1021hrs contrary to planned 0830hrs. For the second leg of the flight, the aircraft departed FYOA to FPST with filed flight plan of 05 hours and 20 minutes (flight time) having FYOA as alternate. Leaving the Namibian airspace the pilot only contacted Luanda ATC and São Tomé Tower as destination, and at no time did he contact Brazzaville or Libreville for any further clearance within Brazzaville FIR: It is important to emphasize that on that day, the west coast of Africa in the vicinity of Gulf of Guinea had widespread moderate to severe thunderstorm activity with lighting and heavy rain. When initiating descent to São Tomé from FL 200 to 4000 feet as instructed by São Tomé ATC, the pilot was advised that weather was gradually deteriorating at airport vicinity. At 1610hrs the pilot had last transmission with Control Tower informing them about his position which was 9 nm inbound to São Tomé VOR at 4000 feet and also informed the ATC that he was encountering heavy rain. Having lost contact with aircraft at 1613hrs, the São Tomé ATC tried several times to contact the airplane by VHF118.9, 127.5, 121.5 and HF 8903 without success. Facing this situation the ATC sent messages to FIRs of Brazzaville and Accra and Libreville Control as well, some airlines flying within São Tomean an adjacent airspace were contacted for any information but all responses were negative. A Search and Rescue operation started on 7 April 2013 the same day the accident occurred and was conducted on the sea and on the island; no trace of aircraft or its debris, pilot or any cargo were found. The search was terminated on 20 April at 1730hrs.

Last March 12, the aircraft sustained damages upon landing at Djolu Airport. Repairs were carried on and the aircraft was ready for its back trip to Kinshasa on March 22, carrying three crew members, two pilots and one mechanic. After the brakes were released, while accelerating on a dirt runway, the aircraft veered off runway, contacted trees and crashed in a wooded area, bursting into flames. All three crew members evacuated the burned wreckage and only the mechanic was injured. The aircraft was totally destroyed.

The aircraft was completing a cargo flight from Kananga to Goma with an intermediate stop in Lodja, carrying four passengers, 6 crew members and a load of various goods. On final approach to Goma Airport Runway 36, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. On final, the aircraft contacted the roof of a house and crashed in the garden of a residential area, coming to rest upside down. Three passengers were seriously injured while seven other occupants were killed.