21 accidents of ATR aircraft since 2000

The ATR 42-500MP operated by the Nigerian Air Force had taken off from Benin City, Nigeria, on a routine military flight to Lagos, Nigeria. There were 20 passengers and 5 crew members on board. The aircraft crashed in a swampy area near the Igbokoda Naval Base in Ondo State. All 25 occupants were killed.

The ATR 42 belonging to IDA Indonesia Air Transport and operated for the Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance took off from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for a flight to Makassar, Indonesia. Four crewmembers and six passengers were onboard. The plane crashed while on approach to Makassar's airport. The wreckage was later found in a mountainous area on Mount Bulu Saraung at about 4,300 feet. All 10 occupants were killed.

The ATR-72-212A operated by Voepass Linhas Aereas took off from Cascavel, Brazil, for a passenger flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil. 58 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. As the aircraft began its initial approach at approximately FL170 (around 17,000 feet), it suddenly spun out of control and crashed into a residential area in Vila Santa Fé, Brazil. The plane hit the ground at high speed and burst into flames, resulting in the tragic loss of all 62 occupants. No residential houses were struck, and there were no injuries reported on the ground.

The ATR 42-500 operated by Precision Air Service took off from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for a passenger flight to Bukoba, Tanzania. 39 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The aircraft overran Bukoba's runway and came to a stop submerged in Lake Victoria. 19 occupants were killed (including both pilots), and 24 survived and were taken to the hospital.

The ATR-72-212 operated by Iran Aseman took off from Tehran, Iran, for a passenger flight to Yasuj, Iran. 60 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane disappeared from radar near the Zagroz Mountains. The wreckage was found 30 meters below the peak of the mountains south of Noqol. All 66 people onboard were killed. The crew was cleared to join the approach procedure to Yasuj. The crew did not indicate any emergency or abnormal situation on board. Communication with the aircraft was lost about 85 minutes after departure from Tehran. The aerodrome of Yasuj is surrounded by high mountains. Those mountains were covered by clouds at the time of the accident. Flight data recorders analysis indicates that while approaching Yasuj, the aircraft levelled off at 15,000 ft on autopilot for 1 minute. Then the engines were reduced to idle, the speed reduced to 200 KIAS with the angle of attack increasing, the engines get slightly accelerated. The speed continued to decrease and reached 129 KIAS (minimum maneuvering speed 132 KIAS), the pitch reaches 15 degrees nose up, the engines accelerate. The altitude target is set to 14,000 ft and the aircraft begins to descend at about 600fpm. The speed further reduces to 117 KIAS, a stall warning activates, the crew disengages the autopilot, the aircraft rolls 20 degrees to the left, the pitch reduces to about 9 degrees nose down. Descending through 14200 ft at 137 KIAS the autopilot gets re-engaged, the aircraft rolls right by 12 degrees, the pitch increases to 5 degrees nose down. A GPWS warning "TERRAIN AHEAD! PULL UP!" activates, the autopilot is disengaged, the GPWS warning continues for 12 seconds until impact. Iran investigation boards stated that the crew should have maintained 17,000 ft in accordance with the flight plan, however, descended the aircraft to 15,000 ft followed by a target altitude of 14,000 ft on the autopilot contrary to flight rules. In addition, while the crew was permitted to conduct the flight with the weather data available at the time of departure, the latest weather information provided by Yasuj Tower indicating clouds up to 15,000 ft prohibited the approach to Yasuj according to company procedures due to cloud cover present at the aerodrome, the crew should have diverted to Shiraz or Isfahan planned as alternate aerodromes.

The ATR-42-300 operated by West Wind Aviation took off from Fond-du-Lac, SK, Canada, for a passenger flight to Stony Rapids, SK, Canada. 22 passengers and 3 crewmembers were onboard. The plane lost height and crashed shortly after takeoff, about 1 kilometer past the runway. All occupants survived. The West Wind Aviation turboprop crashed shortly after takeoff in the boreal forest area of northern Saskatchewan. A number of passengers and one crew member sustained serious injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The investigation report indicates that:

The ATR-42-500 operated by Pakistan International Airlines took off from Chitral, Pakistan for a passenger flight to Islamabad, Pakistan. 42 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed in a mountain while descending toward Islamabad. All 48 people onboard were killed. Shortly before the crash, the crew reported a failure of the left hand engine. The failed engine had been switched off by the crew, and the plane continue to flight to the planned destination. 1 minute later, the crew declared an emergency. 1 minute later, radio and radar contact was lost with the aircraft. The aircraft was unable to maintain heading and turned left before the crash. The wreckage has been rapidly found by the rescuers, and was located at about 25 NM (45 km) north of Islamabad. The plane has been completely pulverized.

The ATR-42-300 operated by Trigana Air took off from Jayapura, Indonesia, for a passenger flight to Oksibil, Indonesia. 49 passengers and 5 crewmembers were onboard. The contact with the plane was lost while the aircraft was approaching Oksibil. The wreckage was found one day later. All 54 occupants were killed. The short-haul airliner left Jayapura for Oksibil, about 170 miles to the south. The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers about 30 minutes after takeoff, and around 20 minutes before landing. The aircraft was found at an altitude of about 8,300 feet at the side of the Pegunungan Bintang Regency mountain, in a dense forest.

The ATR-72-600 operated by TransAsia took off from Taipei, Taiwan, for a passenger flight to Kinmen, Taiwan. 53 passengers and 5 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the water of the Keelung River near the Nankang Software Park, 2.9 NM from the end of runway. 15 occupants were injured, and 43 occupants were killed. The airplane took off from Taipei-Sung Shan Airport's runway 10 and turned right, climbing to an altitude of 1350 feet. Around a minute after takeoff, the crew radioed "Mayday! Mayday! Engine Flame Out!". The airplane turned left and began losing altitude and speed. It then turned to the right before banking almost 90 degrees left again. The plane plummeted, struck a taxi on a viaduct with its left wing and impacted the Keelung River and came to rest inverted. Both occupants of the taxi were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. 37 seconds after becoming airborne, a master warning activated related to the failure of the right hand engine triggered in the cockpit. The crew called it out, and then the left hand engine thrust lever was progressively retarded to flight idle. Then the condition lever was set to fuel shut off position resulting in the shut down of the left hand engine. 28 seconds after the master warning, the right hand engine auto-feathered. At that time, both engines were therefore not providing anymore power to the aircraft. 6 seconds later, a stall warning occurred. The crew attempted several time to restart the left engine. The parameters suggest the left hand engine was restarted around 10 seconds before the crash.

The ATR-72-212A operated by Transasia took off from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for a passenger flight to Makung, Taiwan. 54 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed during its approach to Makung airport. 11 people received injuries, 47 occupants perished. Strong gusting winds were prevailing at the time of the accident. The plane was on approach to Makung, descending through about 300 feet AGL about 1000 meters short of the runway when the aircraft made ground contact, struck buildings and burst into flames. The ATR 72 ended near the village of Xixi in the Husi Township.

The ATR-72-600 operated by Lao Airlines took off from Vientiane, Laos for a passenger flight to Pakse, Laos. 44 passengers and 5 crew were onboard. The plane crashed in poor weather conditions seconds after it had gone around at Pakse airport. All 49 occupants of the aircraft are confirmed perished in the accident. The flight was delayed due to Tropical storm Nari battering the southern and central provinces. It finally took off to its destination. The ATR 72 was on approach to Pakse's runway 15 in poor weather conditions. The plane went around and attempted a right turn to join downwind for another approach. During the maneuver, the aircraft crashed in the Mekong River. A ground witness described the aircraft nose suddenly rose, then the aircraft came down. Then the fuselage broke and sank in the river.

The ATR 72 operated by Utair took off from Tyumen, Russia, for a passenger flight to Surgut, Russia. 39 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 31 people. 12 people survived with injuries. The twin-engine turbo-prop plane was performing a domestic flight to carry people to the oil town of Surgut. The plane took off from Tyumen Airport, a regional center in Siberia about 1,700 kilometers east of Moscow. However, contact had been lost with the plane just over three minutes after take-off. shortly before the crash, witnesses heard a bang and saw smoke coming out from the plane. The plane lost altitude, and the crew attempted an emergency landing in a snow-covered field. The plane impacted the ground about 1.4 NM (3 km) away from the takeoff runway end. The 21-year-old ATR 72 burst into flames after the impact. The plane snapped in two, and ended lying in a snowy field with only the tail and rear visible. The captain and both flight attendants died in the crash, the first officer is amongst the 12 survivors. First analysis of the data showed that both engines were working normally until impact with the ground. The aircraft had climbed to a maximum altitude of 210 meters (688 feet), then banked 35 degrees to the right followed by a bank to the left that reached more than 50 degrees at impact with the ground. Due to environmental conditions the aircraft was to be de-iced before departure. However, it was reported the de-icing was not carried out properly.

The ATR72-212 operated by AeroCaribbean was performing a passenger flight from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, to Havana, Cuba. 61 passengers and 7 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed near Guasimal, killing all 68 people onboard. Air traffic controller reported that the plane made an emergency call, before losing contact with air traffic controllers. The plane went down near the village of Guasimal in Santi Spiritus province. The analysis of flight data and cockpit voice recorders showed the airplane was in good technical condition. The airplane encountered severe icing at FL200 that together with human errors in handling the icing conditions led to the crash.

The ATR-42-300 operated by Conviasa, took off from Porlamor, Venezuela for a passenger flight to Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. 47 passengers and 4 crew were onboard. The plane crashed while attempting an emergency landing. 17 people have been killed and 34 survived the accident (among which several were injured). While the plane was approaching its destination airport, at about 30 NM from the runway, the crew reported control problems and requested to land immediately to Puerto Ordaz airport. But the plane didn’t make the runway. Ground witnesses reported that the airplane entangled with a high voltage line before impacting ground. The plane impacted ground about 9 kilometres (5 NM) from the airport. Although the airplane fell into a crowded area, there have been no casualties and injuries on the ground. Onboard, the pilot and two of the other three crew members were among those killed.

The ATR 72 operated by Bangkok Airways was on Domestic Scheduled Passenger from Krabi airport, Thailand, bound for Koh Samui airport, Thailand. 68 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed on landing at Koh Samui airport. The pilot was killed. The weather at the time of the accident was bad, with heavy rain and strong winds reported. The plane landed on the runway, but then skidded off the runway and crashed into a former control tower on the side of the runway, which had been converted into a fire station. The pilot was killed in the accident, and five people were badly injured, including four passengers and the co-pilot, who was trapped in the cockpit for more than two hours. Two passengers were slightly injured. The ATR-72 was substantially damaged.

The ATR 42-300 operated by local airline Santa Barbara took off in good weather from the high-altitude city of Merida, Venezuela, just before dusk bound to the capital of Caracas. It disappeared from radar a few minutes after take-off. The plane was carrying 43 passengers and three crewmembers. There is no survivor. Once the plane took off, the control tower received no further communication from the pilot. The plane crashed at an altitude 12,000 feet (3,700 meters) against a wall of rock. It was found completely wrecked, smashed against the face of one of the mountains. The twin-engine turboprop went down in a remote area 11 kilometers (seven miles) northeast of the airport in Merida, the main town in the Venezuelan Andes that each year attracts thousands of tourists from around the world. The pilot was experienced and had specialized training for flying through the Andes: the crews need special training to fly from Merida's airport because the city is so tightly hemmed in by mountains that planes must make steep ascents at takeoff. The high altitude of the airport (5007 feet or 1525 meters) makes it difficult as the plane’s performances are reduced. Visibility at dusk becomes so difficult planes are only allowed to take off during daylight. The ATR 42-300 involved in this accident was the day's last flight out.

The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight from Bari, Italy to Djerba, Tunisia. While flying off the coast of Palermo, the crew reported that the twin turboprop had developed engine problems, and requested an emergency approach and landing at Palermo. But the aircraft did not reach Palermo, and crashed into the sea. Investigators have revealed that, immediately before the fatal flight, the aircraft had performed a Tunis-Bari service and landed at Bari in Italy with just 305kg of fuel in total – a level which should have triggered a low-fuel alert to the crew. But the gauge incorrectly indicated that the ATR72’s tanks contained 2,300kg. The aircraft subsequently took on just 265kg of fuel at Bari, departing for Djerba with only 570kg in total, but which showed as 2,700kg to the crew. During the flight, no low fuel warning has triggered. This was because the ATR72’s fuel warning system depended on the information from the fuel-quantity indicator, an indicator which was reading incorrectly because it was designed to be fitted only in a smaller plane: the ATR42. The turboprop suffered fuel exhaustion and the ATR72 ditched off the Sicilian coast. Among the 39 passengers and crew members onboard, 14 were killed.

The aircraft, on a scheduled passenger flight from the Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) to San Juan (Puerto Rico), crashed while landing. The turboprop reportedly suffered a tire explosion upon landing, veered off the right side of the runway, and came to rest near a wooded area adjacent to the airport. At least 13 passengers and crew suffered serious injuries.

The aircraft departed Taipei for a cargo flight to Macau, near Hong Kong. While cruising at FL160, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the sea. Both crew members were killed.