Saxony

On 8 August 2013 at 1914 hrs the airplane, arriving from Stockholm, Sweden, landed at Leipzig/Halle Airport. After the landing it taxied to apron 2 to stand 207. On board the airplane were the Pilot in Command (PIC), the co-pilot, one flight engineer, one navigator, one radio operator, and two flight mechanics. The driver of the fueling vehicle stated that the airplane was refuelled between 0058 and 0121 hrs with 22,809 l fuel. The flight engineer stated that approximately at the same time the loading had occurred and was completed at about 0140 hrs. Between 2330 and 0100 hrs the airplane was loaded with 48,960 one-day-old chickens. They had a total mass of 3,061 kg. Take-off for the flight to Mineralye Vody, Russia, was planned for 0215 hrs. At 0201 hrs the engine start-up clearance was issued and the APU started. After the APU was running, engine No 1, outer left, was started. Once engine No 1 had reached idle speed the start-up for engine No 4, outer right, was begun. During engine start-up of engine No 4 the crew noticed a dull bang and the airplane jerked. The co-pilot, who monitored the APU instruments during engine start-up, had observed rotary speed oscillations and a temperature rise. A short time later the APU fire warning indication illuminated. The crew shut off the two already running engines and triggered the APU fire extinguisher system. One photo (see Appendix) shows a glaring light on the left fuselage side. At this time propellers 1 and 4 were turning; propellers 2 and 3 stood still. Video recordings show fire in the area of the left main landing gear. The co-pilot stated that the PIC had then opened the cockpit door. Flames were already visible in the cargo compartment. The PIC stated that he sent one of the flight mechanics outside for a check. He left the aircraft through the emergency exit located in the floor of the cockpit. After he had left the airplane, he immediately reported that the APU was burning. Subsequently, the three fire extinguishers located in the cockpit were handed down. In addition, the flight engineer and the second flight mechanic left the airplane; they confirmed the fire. Together the three men tried to extinguish the fire with on-board fire extinguishers. The PIC instructed the radio operator to report the situation to the tower. At 0207:45 hrs the radio operator reported the fire and requested the fire brigade. Around 0208 hrs the fire was noticed by other witnesses. They stated that the area of the left main landing gear was burning and that in this area on the left side below the fuselage some liquid leaked on to the ground. At 0208:01 hrs the tower alerted the fire station east. Half a minute later the fire station west was alerted. At 0209:00 hrs the tower announced the location of the fire. At 0212:06 hrs the first fire truck reached the airplane and undertook the first extinguishing attempt with foaming agent. The crew members evacuated the airplane through the front emergency exit located in the floor of the cockpit. Then they left the danger zone and retreated to a grassy area about 50 m in front of the airplane.

During the early evening, at 1946 hrs, after a flight time of one hour and 50 minutes the airplane came back to Prague, Czech Republic, after a flight to France. For the Pilot in Command (PIC) it was the first flight of the day. The co-pilot left the airplane after the landing and was replaced by the copilot of the subsequent accident flight. The co-pilot had already flown two flights that day - around midday - with a total flight time of one hour and 40 minutes. There were no passengers on board. The aircraft departed Prague at 2008 hrs for a ferry flight to Karlskrona, Sweden. The flight was conducted in accordance with Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). The course of events is described based on the analysis of the recordings of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), radar and radio communications. The appendix shows two different FDR recording diagrams. Diagram 1 shows the entire flight (time in UTC) and diagram 2 shows the flight from 1918:30 UTC on. Take-off took place on runway 31. The co-pilot was Pilot Flying (PF). The flight was conducted manually, neither of the two autopilots was engaged. From 2012 hrs on, after a right hand turn, the flight proceeded toward the north. The airplane was in climb attitude. At 2014:16 hrs, still in climb, the PIC said "I didn't fly night time for long time". The co-pilot asked: "Have you already experienced a roll during night?" She answered laughing: "Yes, really." He: "Better we won't." She laughing: "Do you enjoy that thing?" Co-pilot: "You are the first one with whom I talked about it, don't tell it [...]." PIC: "Whom shall I not tell?" [...] She again: "I also do it always, but I persuade [...] to do that." Co-pilot: "[...] Bravo does it better." At 2015:00 hrs, during this short conversation, the crew received the instruction from ATC Prague to climb to FL260 and to level off above reporting point DEKOV. The conversation in the cockpit continued. Co-pilot: "Bravo does the roll faster with the ailerons but the spoilers are slower." At 2015:33 hrs ATC repeated the instruction. At 2015:40 hrs the PIC acknowledged the instruction. Between 2017:10 hrs and 2017:20 hrs the airplane rolled about its longitudinal axis; initially to the left up to a bank angle of 30°, and right afterwards to the right up to a bank angle of 20°, then back again to the horizontal. At 2017:20 hrs the PIC responded to it with the words: "Let's go, we are already high enough, you nettle me - come on [...]." At 2017:22rs ATC Prague instructed the crew to contact ATC Munich; at 2017:35 hrs the PIC confirmed the instruction. At 2017:42 hrs she said: "Later but." The co-pilot replied: "Let's do it at higher altitude." At 2018:29 hrs, the PIC contacted ATC Munich. At 2018:36 hrs the crew received the instruction from ATC Munich to climb to FL330. This was confirmed at 2018:44 hrs. Between 2018:51 hrs and 2019:00 hrs the following conversation took place:
- 2018:51 hrs PIC: "Sufficient, is it sufficient?"
- 2018:53 hrs Co-pilot: "For what?"
- 2018:54 hrs PIC: "Sufficient."
- 2018:56 hrs PIC: "The altitude."
- 2018:58 hrs Co-pilot: "For what?"
- 2018:58 hrs PIC: "For that,"
- 2019:00 hrs Co-pilot: "It is sufficient."
At 2019:00 hrs the airplane levelled off in FL270, at 2019:05 hrs the airplane nose moved upward until a pitch angle of about 14° was reached. At 2019:09 hrs the aircraft began to roll about its longitudinal axis to the right. Within 4 seconds the airplane reached the inverted flight attitude and in another 4 seconds it rolled another 90°. Simultaneously the heading changed right toward the east, then toward the south and finally toward the west. During the roll the pitch angle decreased to almost -85° which is almost a vertical nose dive. The computed airspeed increased
significantly. The airplane crashed near Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna, Saxon Switzerland, about 500 m north of the border to the Czech Republic.

Crashed on takeoff for unknown reasons. There were no casualties.