Africa

The Twin Otter departed Al-Gorah on a flight to Sainte-Catherine, carrying 8 passengers (among them six membres of the French Air Force) and one Canadian pilot. En route, he contacted ATC and reported technical problems. While attempting an emergency landing, the aircraft collided with a Jordan truck carrying glass and crashed, bursting into flames. Both truck drivers were slightly injured while the aircraft was destroyed and all 9 occupants were killed. The flight was operated by the French Air Force on behalf of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) based in the Sinai area.
French Air Force members killed:
Cptn Laurence Briançon-Forest,
Lt Guillaume Pike,
SgtC Yann Poilly,
SgtC Laurent Pottier,
SgtC Hervé Bouffenie,
Sgt Julien Flégo.

During the night of 4th May 2007, the B737-800, registration 5Y-KYA, operating as flight KQ507 from Abidjan international Airport, Ivory Coast, to the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi (Kenya), made a scheduled stop-over at the Douala international Airport. The weather was stormy. The aircraft took off and climbed into the dark night. There were no external visual references, yet no instrument scanning was done by the crew. At 1000 feet climbing, the pilot flying released the flight controls for 55 seconds without having engaged the autopilot. The bank angle of the airplane increased continuously by itself very slowly up to 34° right and the captain appeared unaware of the airplane’s changing attitude. Just before the "Bank Angle" warning sounds, the captain grabbed the controls, appeared confused about the attitude of the airplane, and made corrections in an erratic manner increasing the bank angle to 50° right. At about 50° bank angle, the autopilot was engaged and the inclination tended to stabilize; then movements of the flight controls by the pilot resumed and the bank angle increased towards 70° right. A prolonged right rudder input brought the bank angle to beyond 90°. The aircraft descended in a spiral dive until it crashed at approximately 0008LT (May 5) in a mangrove swamp located 5,5 km southeast of Douala Airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 114 occupants were killed.

During the takeoff roll on runway 28, the pilot-in-command decided to reject takeoff and initiated an emergency braking procedure. The aircraft overran, turned to the left, lost its undercarriage and came to rest on a river bank. All 15 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was departing Mogadishu on a ferry flight to Minsk with an intermediate stop in Djibouti City, carrying 4 technicians of the operator and 7 crew members who were returning to Belarus after they recovered materials and instruments from another II-76 (EW-78826) that was damaged beyond repair at Mogadishu Airport last March 9. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the aircraft was hit by a missile that struck the left wing between both engines n°1 and 2. An explosion occurred and the aircraft caught fire. The crew initiated a turn when the left wing detached and crashed in the sea. Out of control, the aircraft crashed on a beach near the airport, killing all 11 occupants.

On final approach, while flying at an altitude of 120 metres at 3 kilometres from the runway threshold, the aircraft was hit by an RPG, probably fired by rebels from a boat. The projectile hit the left main gear and a fire erupted. The aircraft landed safely and all 15 occupants escaped uninjured. It took about one hour for the only fire-fighting truck available at the airport to reach the plane as it had no fuel. Eventually, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and cannibalized. One week later, some technicians of the Belarus operator returned to Mogadishu to recover pieces and material from the aircraft. On departure, another II-76 from the same operator was hit by a missile and destroyed.

Owned by United Arabian Airlines, the four engine aircraft departed Khartoum on a cargo flight to Geneina on behalf of AZZA Air Transport. After touchdown, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in a sandy area. There were no injuries but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair after the undercarriage were torn off and the left wing tip was sheared off. Witnesses interviewed by the Panel stated that the majority of the passengers were military personnel. In addition to the passengers there were two D-22 type 122 mm artillery howitzers and 40 to 50 wooden boxes painted olive drab, suspected to contain arms and ammunition. The cargo was offloaded during the days following the crash under the supervision of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) who continued to guard the aircraft throughout the following week. In an official report published at the end of April 2007, UNO criticized the Sudanese authorities for not respecting the various points of resolution 1591 which stipulates that Sudan is not authorized to deliver military equipment to the Darfur region.

The pilot was completing a cargo flight from Goma with a load of food on board. While approaching Walikale, weather conditions deteriorated. The pilot attempted three times to land but eventually initiated a go-around when the disappeared few minutes later. SAR operations were suspended after few days as no trace of the aircraft nor the pilot was found.

The aircraft was carrying tourists, including the organizer of the trip to Matambwe. These passengers included five adults, a boy of sixteen, three girls of eleven, five and four years. There was also an infant of 11 months. This trip was arranged by a company called Tent with a View Safaris, which owns a camp at Matambwe in the Selous Game Reserve. According to the company, initially two aircraft were organized to transport the passengers to Matambwe. The booking was made through a telephone call to an operator called Wings of Zanzibar, who advised them to go to Terminal I of Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. However, when the passengers arrived at the Wings of Zanzibar office at the airport, they found it closed. When Wings of Zanzibar was contacted on the telephone, a pilot employed by another company, DJB Ltd, was alerted to meet them. The pilot initially took them to the offices of DJB for payment. He also recommended that one aircraft would suffice for the trip. According to the pilot, he believed that the three children were small enough to sit on their parents’ laps. The passengers had little baggage. The aircraft, a Piper PA31-310 Navajo, took off from Dar es Salaam at 0825 hours and cruised at FL 65. The flight to Matambwe was uneventful and the aircraft was overhead the airstrip at 0902 hours. The pilot over flew the airstrip to alert the camp staff and check for wind and animals, a common procedure for landing in the Game Reserve airstrips. He also made another low run over the runway to ascertain its condition. Eye witnesses and passengers confirmed that the pilot made an overshoot, having flown very low attempting to land. The pilot was not sure of the runway condition because he had not flown into this airfield for a long time. In addition, before embarking on this trip, he had requested information on the runway condition from another pilot who had recently flown into the airstrip. He was told that the runway was usable. Finally, the pilot decided to land. He chose to land on runway 28 with full flaps. He touched down about two hundred and fifty meters beyond the beginning of the usable part of the runway and braked normally. After rolling for some time, he realized that the aircraft would not be able to stop before the end of the remaining length of the runway. With about another two hundred and fifty meters ahead, the pilot initiated a go round believing he had sufficient runway length remaining to gather enough speed for takeoff and climb out. He immediately increased power and initiated the go around. It is at this moment that the aircraft became airborne with no speed increase. The aircraft flew straight and level at full power without gaining height. It subsequently started chopping small tree tops for about two hundred meters beyond the end of the runway and then started to lose height. As it did so, the starboard wing collided with a large tree and the aircraft rotated through 180 degrees before coming to rest. The main wreckage settled below the impact tree and the passengers evacuated immediately. The wreckage caught fire immediately after the last passenger was evacuated. It burned completely, leaving only the tail fin and parts of the engine nacelle. When staff members from Tent with a View Camp located at Matambwe arrived, the aircraft was burning fiercely. They assisted in moving the occupants to a safer location, far from the burning wreckage and in administering first aid. The aircraft occupants were later treated at a local dispensary before being transported to a hospital in Dar es Salaam. One passenger died in the hospital four hours after the accident. Two passengers were treated for serious injuries. The injuries to the rest of the occupants were minor.

The aircraft departed Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta Airport on a cargo flight to Baidoa, Somalia, carrying 3 crew members and a load consisting of 20 drums of fuel for the Somali interim Government in place in Baidoa, on behalf of the International Red Cross. Shortly after takeoff from runway 06, at a height of about 100 feet, the left engine lost power. The captain contacted ATC, declared an emergency and was cleared for an immediate return. After the engine was secured and the propeller was feathered, the crew initiated a turn when the aircraft lost height, collided with a power line and crashed onto a house, 3 minutes after takeoff. All three crew members were injured while no one was injured on ground.

Upon landing, the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft went out of control and veered off runway. While contacting soft ground, the left main gear collapsed as well, causing the left propeller to struck the ground. A propeller blade separated and penetrated the fuselage, and the aircraft came to rest on its belly. All occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.