Crash of a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander in Lima: 10 killed

Date & Time: Mar 10, 1989
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
OB-T-1271
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Nazca – Lima
MSN:
604
YOM:
1970
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
10
Circumstances:
On final approach to Lima-Callao-Jorge Chávez Airport, the twin engine aircraft struck a radio antenna and crashed onto a building located in a residential area, few km short of runway. The aircraft was destroyed and all 10 occupants were killed, among them 8 US citizens returning to Lima following a sightseeing tour in the Nazca region.

Crash of a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air in La Carlota AFB: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jan 12, 1989 at 0810 LT
Registration:
YV-597CP
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Valencia – La Carlota
MSN:
BB-394
YOM:
1978
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
On approach to La Carlota-General Francisco de Miranda AFB, the crew was instructed to divert due to poor weather conditions at destination. While initiating a go-around procedure, the crew lost control of the aircraft that crashed in the backyard of a house, about 7,8 km short of runway. Both occupants were killed.

Crash of a Piper PA-31-310 Navajo in Springfield: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jan 3, 1989 at 0812 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N9034Y
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Indianapolis - Columbus
MSN:
31-47
YOM:
1967
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Captain / Total flying hours:
1041
Captain / Total hours on type:
57.00
Aircraft flight hours:
5906
Circumstances:
The pilot was making a contract cargo flight under far 91 rules and had experienced icing enroute. When just past Dayton, he indicated that he 'had a little fuel problem' and needed to get into OSU without delays. A short time later he indicated that he needed to go to the nearest airport. He was vectored toward SGH for landing. He then indicated that he had lost an engine and a short time later indicated that he had lost the other engine. The aircraft crashed in a residential area. There was no fire and only residual fuel was found in the airplane. The company president indicated that he did not encourage his pilots to carry 'excess fuel'. It was reported that this pilot, along with others, had been 'chewed out' for carrying 'excess fuel'. The operation should have been conducted under far 135 rules since the company had retained operational control of the operation. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.
Probable cause:
Fuel exhaustion precipitated by the inadequate fuel consumption calculations performed by the pilot, pressure from the company president to not carry excess fuel and improper in-flight planning/decisions by the pilot by not refueling enroute before fuel was exhausted. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate surveillance and certification of the operator by the FAA.
Occurrence #1: loss of engine power (total) - nonmechanical
Phase of operation: descent
Findings
1. (c) fuel consumption calculations - inadequate - pilot in command
2. (c) company-induced pressure - company/operator management
3. (c) inadequate surveillance of operation - faa (organization)
4. (c) fluid, fuel - exhaustion
5. (c) aircraft preflight - inadequate - pilot in command
6. (c) inadequate certification/approval - faa (organization)
7. (c) refueling - not performed - pilot in command
8. (c) in-flight planning/decision - inadequate - pilot in command
----------
Occurrence #2: forced landing
Phase of operation: descent - emergency
----------
Occurrence #3: in flight collision with terrain/water
Phase of operation: descent - uncontrolled
Final Report:

Crash of a Boeing 747-121A in Lockerbie: 270 killed

Date & Time: Dec 21, 1988 at 1903 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N739PA
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
London - New York
MSN:
19646
YOM:
1970
Flight number:
PA103
Region:
Crew on board:
16
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
243
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
270
Captain / Total flying hours:
10910
Captain / Total hours on type:
4107.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
11855
Copilot / Total hours on type:
5517
Aircraft flight hours:
72464
Aircraft flight cycles:
16497
Circumstances:
Flight PA103 departed London-Heathrow runway 27R for New York at 18:25. The aircraft levelled off at FL310, 31 minutes later. At 19:03 Shanwick Oceanic Control transmitted an oceanic clearance. At that time an explosion occurred in the aircraft's forward cargo hold at position 4L. The explosive forces produced a large hole in the fuselage structure and disrupted the main cabin floor. Major cracks continued to propagate from the large hole while containers and items of cargo ejected through the hole, striking the empennage, left- and right tail plane. The forward fuselage and flight deck area separated when the aircraft was in a nose down and left roll attitude, peeling away to the right at Station 800. The nose section then knocked the no. 3 engine off its pylon. The remaining aircraft disintegrated while it was descending nearly vertically from 19000 feet to 9000 feet. A section of cabin floor and baggage hold (from approx. Station 1241-1920) fell onto housing at Rosebank Terrace, Lockerbie. The main wing structure struck the ground with a high yaw angle at Sherwood Crescent, Lockerbie causing a massive fire. The Semtex bomb which caused the explosion had probably been hidden in a radio cassette player and was transferred to PA103 from a Pan Am Boeing 727 flight, arriving from Frankfurt. After a three-year joint investigation by the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation indictments for murder were issued on November 13, 1991, against Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. United Nations sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on April 5, 1999. On January 31, 2001, Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was acquitted.
Probable cause:
The in-flight disintegration of the aircraft was caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device located in a baggage container positioned on the left side of the forward cargo hold at aircraft station 700.
Final Report:

Crash of a Boeing 707-351C in Karm Umran: 9 killed

Date & Time: Dec 14, 1988 at 2150 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-AYJ
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Dar es-Salaam - Cairo - Brussels
MSN:
19168
YOM:
1966
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
5
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
During a night approach to Cairo-Intl Airport, the crew initiated a go-around as the visibility was too low (400 meters). A second attempt to land few minutes later was also abandoned. The crew decided to divert to Luxor Airport where weather conditions were better. While approaching Luxor from the north, the crew declared an emergency due to low fuel when the aircraft lost height and crashed onto several houses located in the city of Karm Umran, about 45 km north of Luxor Airport runway 20 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed as well as one people on the ground.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the crew was forced to attempt an emergency landing due to fuel exhaustion.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-14P in Linfen: 46 killed

Date & Time: Oct 7, 1988 at 1321 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
B-4218
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Linfen - Linfen
MSN:
6 34 14 06
YOM:
1956
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
44
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
46
Circumstances:
The aircraft was chartered to carry 44 employees of a local knitting factory for a 15 minutes sightseeing flight over the Linfen Area. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the left engine failed. The aircraft lost height, causing the left wing to struck a building. Upon impact, the left wing was partially torn off. The aircraft then collided with eight poplars and eventually crashed on an hotel. Four passengers were rescued while 44 others occupants as well as two people on the ground were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the left engine had failed following a fatigue fracture in the engine's oil pump drive shaft.

Crash of a Douglas B-26B Invader in Bogotá

Date & Time: Sep 21, 1988
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HK-1247P
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Bogotá - Bogotá
MSN:
27829
YOM:
1944
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
One pilot and one engineer took off from Bogotá-El Dorado Airport on a post maintenance check flight. After takeoff, while completing a left turn, the pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed near residential area in Bogotá. Fortunately, both occupants were rescued and no one on ground was injured.

Crash of an IAI Arava 201 in La Carlota: 4 killed

Date & Time: Sep 5, 1988
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
GN-7952
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
MSN:
049
YOM:
1978
Country:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from La Carlota-General Francisco de Miranda AFB, the airplane lots height and crashed on a textile mill, bursting into flames. All three crew members as well as one people on the ground were killed.

Crash of a Piper PA-61 Aerostar (Ted Smith 601P) in North Perry: 3 killed

Date & Time: Aug 25, 1988 at 1530 LT
Registration:
N6069W
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
MSN:
61-0676-7963318
YOM:
1979
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Captain / Total flying hours:
3000
Captain / Total hours on type:
50.00
Circumstances:
Witnesses stated that the aircraft used almost the entire length of the runway during the ground run. After rotation and gear retraction, it continued to climb in a nose high attitude to approximately 100-150 feet, then it started an approximately 20° bank to the right until it hit power lines and crashed into the top of a printing shop about 3/4 mile from the airport. Witnesses employed at the airport stated that the aircraft had been having undetermined problems with the right engine for a few weeks prior to the accident, but was still being flown and the right engine running extremely rough. All three occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
Occurrence #1: loss of engine power
Phase of operation: takeoff - initial climb
Findings
1. (c) engine assembly - undetermined
2. (c) operation with known deficiencies in equipment - attempted - pilot in command
3. Propeller feathering - performed
----------
Occurrence #2: forced landing
Phase of operation: descent - emergency
----------
Occurrence #3: in flight collision with object
Phase of operation: maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency)
Findings
4. (f) object - wire, transmission
5. (f) object - building (nonresidential)
Final Report:

Crash of a Cessna 404 Titan in Aurora

Date & Time: Jun 10, 1988 at 1604 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N8827K
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Greeley - Denver
MSN:
404-0424
YOM:
1978
Location:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
1400
Captain / Total hours on type:
400.00
Aircraft flight hours:
3486
Circumstances:
The pilot was on a flight from Greeley to Denver, Colorado to obtain minor maintenance on a cargo door. As the aircraft was being vectored on final approach, the pilot reported that he believed the aircraft had fuel starvation. Subsequently, the aircraft was observed to make a complete roll and crash in a residential area. Only about 1.5 gallon of fuel was found in the right wing tank. The left wing and fuel tank were destroyed, but no odor of fuel was noted on the ground around the left wing. Also, a lack of fuel was noted in the fuel lines. The aircraft had not been refueled after the previous flight. The pilot that had flown the aircraft on a previous flight estimated there was 100 lbs of fuel remaining in each tank after his flight.
Probable cause:
Occurrence #1: loss of engine power (total) - nonmechanical
Phase of operation: approach - vfr pattern - final approach
Findings
1. 1 engine
2. (f) aircraft preflight - improper - pilot in command
3. (f) refueling - not performed - pilot in command
4. (f) in-flight planning/decision - improper - pilot in command
5. (f) fluid, fuel - starvation
6. (f) fuel supply - inadequate - pilot in command
----------
Occurrence #2: loss of control - in flight
Phase of operation: approach - vfr pattern - final approach
Findings
7. (c) airspeed (vmc) - not maintained - pilot in command
8. (c) aircraft control - not maintained - pilot in command
----------
Occurrence #3: in flight collision with terrain/water
Phase of operation: descent - uncontrolled
Final Report: