Africa

En route from Greece to Gaborone, Botswana, the pilot encountered technical problems when the right engine failed. He completed a belly landing in an open field. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was returning to Nouakchott with 35 passengers and seven crew members who accompanied the President of the Republic of Mauritania on an official visit of the Hodh Ech Chargui Region. All passengers were members of the Mauritanian Army fanfare. Shortly after a night takeoff, while in initial climb, the aircraft stalled and crashed in a huge explosion near the runway end. Three passengers were seriously injured while 39 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

The aircraft was completing a cargo flight from Cabinda to Luanda, carrying a load of 10 tons of various goods and seven crew members. On approach, at a distance of 1,850 metres from the runway threshold, the aircraft was about 13 metres above the glide so the crew increased the rate of descent by 6,6 metres per second, causing the aircraft to descend below the glide at a distance of 1,350 metres from the runway threshold. The aircraft was stabilized at a height of 12 metres at a distance of 290 metres from the runway threshold when it encountered strong winds. The aircraft nosed down while its speed dropped from 260 to 248 km/h and struck the ground short of runway threshold with a positive acceleration of 3,45 g. Upon impact, the undercarriage were torn off and the aircraft slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All seven crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While cruising at the altitude of 13,000 feet on the leg from Durban to Bulawayo, the crew informed ATC about smoke spreading in the cockpit and was cleared to reduce his altitude. Shortly later, while flying at low altitude, the pilots open the cockpit windows to allow the smoke to evacuate and elected to make an emergency landing at Vaalwater Aerodrome which offers a grassy runway of 780 metres long and 10 metres wide. After touchdown, the aircraft struck a tree on the left side of the runway, cartwheeled, lost a landing gear and came to rest. All four occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

During the takeoff roll at Lanseria Airport, the crew encountered technical problems and elected to abort. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran and came to rest, bursting into flames. There were no casualties.

While approaching Booué Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. As a landing was impossible in such conditions, the crew decided to return to Libreville but en route, ATC confirmed that weather was poor and the crew decided to divert to La Lopé Airport. After landing on a wet runway surface (La Lopé runway is 800 metres long), the aircraft encountered difficulties to stop within the remaining distance and overran. While contacting soft ground, the nose gear collapsed then the aircraft rolled for about 50 metres before coming to rest in a rocky area. All 16 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

During the takeoff roll at Mogadishu Airport, the crew lost control of the airplane that crashed in unknown circumstances. All four crew members were injured.

The four engine aircraft was completing a cargo flight from Mwanza to Ostend with intermediate stops in Mombasa and Cairo, carrying six crew members and a load of 34 tons of fish. After takeoff from runway 03, the aircraft collided with approach lights and an earth mound then crashed few hundred metres past the runway end, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all six occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the first portion of 2,600 feet of runway 03 which is 10,991 feet long were not available due to work in progress. It was reported that the total weight of the aircraft was 135 tons.

The Boeing 737 completed a flight from Lagos (LOS) through Abuja (ABV) to Kaduna (KAD) and was parked for over an hour. At 14:45 UTC, the Chief Pilot of Chanchangi Airline approached the Air Traffic Controller stating that he would like to fly around the circuit for a training flight. He was told that the visibility was 600 meters which was below the landing minima and was then advised against it. The pilot then suggested that he would carry out a "Rejected Takeoff" training. Additional persons boarded the flight to witness the exercise. At 15:37 UTC the pilot requested a take off clearance which was granted, and was directed to proceed to the holding point of runway 05. The prevailing visibility was 600 meters and the wind was 090 at 10 knots. Four rejected take off training runs were carried out within an interval of twelve minutes. In the conditions at Kaduna, a single exercise of a rejected take off would have required a cooling period of at least ten minutes. At the end of the fourth run, the left main landing gear number 2 brake unit had started to burn. The pilot steered the airplane off the runway into the last taxiway. Fifty meters from the runway 05 threshold the left inner wheel failed and leaving a molten rubber footprint on the taxiway and at the same time the hydraulic fluid of the brake units started to spill tracing an oily track along. Pieces of broken wheel rim were randomly shed for a distance of 150 meters when the rims appeared to undergo a major collapse. The footprint of the two left wheels became more pronounced for a distance of 120 meters when there was a positive turn to the left indicating a total failure in roll from the left wheel assembly. The zigzag motion continued for about 699 meters until the aircraft could no longer be easily moved and the pilot called for the fire trucks. The aircraft burnt to ashes on the spot.

After landing at Mogadishu Airport, the propeller on the right engine went into fine pitch. The crew lost control of the airplane that veered off runway to the right. While contacting soft ground, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and its tail before coming to rest, broken in two. All 23 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.