Kasai-Oriental

The airplane departed Goma Airport at 1532LT on a cargo flight to Kinshasa, carrying four crew members, four passengers and various goods for the Congolese Presidency. The last contact with the flight was 59 minutes after takeoff from Goma Airport then the airplane disappeared without any distress call from the crew. The wreckage was localized on October 14 near the village of Okoto, Kole region, in the west part of the Kasai-Oriental Province. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed, among them two bodyguards and one of the personal driver of the Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi who returned from Goma to Kinshasa the same day in another aircraft. The Congolese Presidency confirmed that Félix Tshisekedi spent four days in Goma and that his personal Jeep was on board the AN-72.

The crew completed the approach and landing on runway 17 in poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls. After touchdown on a wet runway surface, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance (runway 17 is 2,000 metres long). It overran and collided with several houses before coming to rest 300 metres further. All five crew members evacuated safely while eight people on the ground were killed.

The aircraft was performing a cargo flight from Goma to Mbuji-Mayi with a crew of 4 and a cargo consisting of fuel drums. The aircraft landed hard, causing both wings to break down. The undercarriage partially collapsed then the aircraft skidded for about 500 metres before coming to rest on the left side of the runway. A fire erupted in the rear of the cabin and the aircraft was destroyed.

Shortly after takeoff from Mbuji-Mayi Airport, while climbing, the engine n°1 caught fire. The flight engineer elected to extinguish the fire but without success. The aircraft lost height then rolled to the left to an angle of 85°. The crew extended the flaps to 45° to maintain a rate of descent of 700 feet per minute but due to an asymmetric flap condition, the rate of descent increased to 1,500 feet per minute. After the aircraft rolled to the left to an angle of 110°, at a speed of 98 knots, the captain attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crash landed in a prairie. All 23 occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Crashed upon landing for unknown reasons. There were no casualties.

Crashed upon landing for undetermined reason. There were no casualties.