Kabul

While approaching Kabul, the captain deviated from the approach path and failed to initiate a go-around despite he was alerted by other crew members. The aircraft was too high on the glide and landed 2,300 meters pas the runway threshold. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, it overran by 660 meters, hit obstacles and suffered substantial damage. The navigator was killed while all five other occupants were injured.

The four engine airplane was completing a flight from Tashkent-Yuzhny to Bagram AFB, Kabul, carrying 38 paratroopers and nine crew members. While descending by night at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located about 36 km from Kabul. The wreckage was found few hours later and none of the 47 occupants survived the crash. The airplane was engaged in the first day of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.

Two Ariana Afghan Airlines aircraft collided in unknown circumstances at Kabul Airport. A C-47 registered YA-AAB was damaged beyond repair while a DC-6 registered YA-DAN was repaired. There were no injuries.

Flight IR123 was a scheduled international cargo flight from Kabul, Afghanistan to Tehran, Iran. The co-pilot was in the left-hand seat and pilot flying at the commencement of the takeoff run. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff on runway 29 at 13:13. When accelerating for takeoff the pilot-in-command noticed that the propeller of the no. 1 engine was overspeeding and surging as high as 3300 rpm. As the aircraft approached an indicated airspeed of about 80 kts the captain took command. He noticed that the aircraft was headed to the left away from the runway centreline towards three runway lights in a concrete footing at the left edge of the runway. To avoid a possible collision with these lights the captain applied elevator control and lifted the aircraft off the runway. The overspeeding propeller condition did not subside although he followed the procedure prescribed in the operations manual for corrective action. The flight path was about 30 to 45° to the left of the runway and in the general direction of the Kabul Airport terminal building so the captain attempted to turn the aircraft further to the left to avoid collision with the building. About 325 ft from the south edge of runway 29 the left wing contacted the ground and the aircraft crashed.

On final approach to Kabul Airport at night, the airplane crashed in a snow cover field and was destroyed. Both occupants were injured and the diplomatic mail was damaged.