30 plane crashes in year 2002

The aircraft departed Sokolniki Airfield in Kharkov for a passenger flight to Isfahan, with an intermediate stop at Trobson (Turkey). While approaching Isfahan, the aircraft impacted the side of a mountain and crashed. Weather at the time of the accident was poor, with heavy fog reported. All 46 people aboard were killed. The aircraft had been just delivered to the airline, and had carried out only 27 landings while flying 71 hours in its lifetime.

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.

The aircraft departed runway 31 Manila's domestic airport for a scheduled passenger flight to the northern province of Laoag. Shortly after takeoff, trouble developed with the aircraft's left turboprop, and witnesses reported seeing the Fokker bank sharply left and ditch into Manila Bay. The aircraft sank into water approximately 60 feet deep. Among the 34 people aboard, 19 were killed.

The aircraft, on a passenger flight from Berlin to Luxembourg-Findel Airport, crashed approximately 6 NM short of runway 24 while attempting to land in fog. 20 out of the 22 occupants were killed.

The aircraft was on a cargo (mail) flight from São Paulo to Londrina. About 20 minutes after takeoff, the ATR crashed into a field. Both crew members were killed.

The aircraft, on a passenger flight from Cruzeiro do Sul to Rio Branco, crashed approximately a mile short of the runway at Rio Branco while on approach in poor weather conditions. A windshear is probably the root cause of the accident. Among de 31 people aboard, 23 were killed.

The aircraft, on a passenger flight from São Paulo to Campo Grande, crashed in a farm field near the town of Aracatuba, 325 miles northwest of São Paulo. The aircraft reportedly suffered some sort of fuel leak, and was forced to land when the fuel onboard the aircraft became exhausted. None of the 28 passengers and crew aboard were seriously injured, however, the aircraft was written off.

The aircraft was on a passenger flight from Khabarovsk to Ayan. It crashed into the sea while on approach to land at Ayan.

The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport while on a repositioning flight to St. Petersburg. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft enter a steep climb immediately after takeoff, bank left, and crash into a forest near the end of the runway. Examination of the aircraft's Digital Flight Data Recorder indicates that, two seconds after lift-off, the plane's horizontal stabilizer spontaneously shifted to a full nose-up position. The Captain immediately pushed the control yoke fully forward in an attempt to lower the aircraft's nose, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Two flight attendants aboard survived, 14 other people aboard died.

The aircraft crashed at 5:43am local time while attempting to land at Tallahassee Regional Airport on a cargo flight from Memphis, TN. With the Tallahassee Airport control tower closed due to the early-morning hour, the flight crew received clearance from Jacksonville Center for a visual approach to runway 09 at 5:36am. The first impact mark was on a tree, about 70 feet high and 3,100 feet from the runway threshold. The plane first hit the ground about 2,100 feet from the runway threshold, and the first piece of wreckage - a leading edge slat - was found approximately 200 feet from the initial tree-strike point. The aircraft's landing gear was down at the time of the accident. The 727 skidded to a stop about 1,000 feet from the end of the runway and caught fire. The flight crew escaped major injury.

The aircraft, on a passenger flight from Basel to Hamburg, was scheduled to land at 7:30pm. The weather in northern Germany was particularly bad upon the aircraft's arrival, with severe thunderstorms containing heavy wind, rain, and hail. An instrument approach was attempted to Runway 05 at Hamburg, but was broken off when conditions proved to be too hazardous for a normal landing. The decision was made to divert from Hamburg, but the crew was informed that all of their selected alternate airports including, finally, Finow Air Force Base were closed due to the inclement weather. Running low on fuel, the flight crew made the decision to divert to the abandoned runway at the former Werneuchen Air Base, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Berlin-Tegel Airport. The crew made a visual approach to 7,874ft Runway 08, and the aircraft touched down at 8:35pm local time. Since the airport's closure, however, only the eastern portion of the runway (4,921ft) is available for use, and is separated from the remainder of the runway by a concrete retaining wall and ditch. As the aircraft slowed, it impacted the retaining wall and ditch, causing severe damage, before coming to rest.

The aircraft, on a flight from N'Djamena to Brazzaville, was carrying a combination of passengers and cargo. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported that the landing gear would not retract. The decision was made to divert to Bangui for a precautionary landing, and the aircraft crashed about 4km short of the runway in a fishing community on the outskirts of the capital after all four engines failed. The only surviving cockpit crew member, a Congolese engineer, later reported that the aircraft may have run out of fuel after the crew initiated a fuel dump in preparation of the precautionary landing. Among the 25 people onboard, 23 were killed.

The aircraft, on a passengers flight from Moscow, Russia to Barcelona, collided with a DHL Aviation Boeing 757 near Ueberlingen on the northern shore of Lake Constance, which borders Switzerland and Austria, around 11:43pm local time. Both aircraft were level at FL360, under Swiss air traffic control (Zurich). Approximately 50 seconds before the collision, Swiss ATC instructed the Russian Tupolev to descend from FL360 to FL350 to avoid a conflict with the DHL Boeing 757. No response was registered by the Russian crew. A second descent instruction was made by Swiss controllers seconds later, and the Tupolev crew acknowledged the instruction. The TU-154 initiated its descent about 25 seconds before the collision. At nearly the same instant, the Boeing 757's TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) issued a Resolution Advisory (RA) in response to the threat of a collision with the TU-154, and the pilots began a descent in an attempt to avoid the Russian aircraft. The aircraft collided at FL354, broke apart and crashed, with debris scattered over an area nearly 40km wide. Both crew members were killed in the DHL plane, and all 69 passengers and crew members died in the Bashkirian plane. This accident raised the problem of the crew decision when both the TCAS and the air traffic controller give opposite orders.

The aircraft, on a cargo flight from Bergamo to Brussels, collided with a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev TU-154 near Ueberlingen on the northern shore of Lake Constance, which borders Switzerland and Austria, around 11:43pm local time. Both aircraft were level at FL360, under Swiss air traffic control (Zurich). Approximately 50 seconds before the collision, Swiss ATC instructed the Russian Tupolev to descend from FL360 to FL350 to avoid a conflict with the DHL Boeing 757. No response was registered by the Russian crew. A second descent instruction was made by Swiss controllers a few seconds later, and the Tupolev crew acknowledged the instruction. The TU-154 initiated its descent about 25 seconds before the collision. At nearly the same instant, the Boeing 757's TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) issued a Resolution Advisory (RA) in response to the threat of a collision with the TU-154, and the pilots began a descent in an attempt to avoid the Russian aircraft. The aircraft collided at FL354, broke apart and crashed, with debris scattered over an area nearly 40km wide. Both crew members were killed in the DHL plane, and all 69 passengers and crew members died in the Bashkirian plane. This accident raised the problem of the crew decision when both the TCAS and the air traffic controller give opposite orders.

The airplane was making a fire retardant drop on a 10,000 acre forest fire near Walker, California, when the wings separated from the fuselage. A

The aircraft departed Bloemfontein for a cargo flight to George. The weather upon arrival at George was poor, and the crew executed a missed approach to their first landing attempt. The aircraft crashed into the Outeniqua Mountains while maneuvering for its second landing attempt. All 3 people onboard were killed.

The aircraft was on a passenger flight from Taiwan's Chiang Kai Shek Airport to Hong Kong. The flight duration was expected to be 1h20. About 20 minutes after takeoff, while cruising at FL350, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China. Radar data suggests that the aircraft broke into four pieces while at FL350. This theory is supported by the fact that articles, which would have been found inside the aircraft (magazines, etc.) were found up to 80 miles (150 kilomètres) from the crash site. There was no sign of an explosion on the recovered debris, and no distress call was received from the flight crew. Weather around the time of the accident was clear. The final investigation report found that the accident was the result of "metal fatigue" due to inadequate maintenance after a previous incident. The report finds that on February 7, 1980, the accident aircraft suffered a tail strike occurrence in Hong Kong. The aircraft was then ferried back to Taiwan on the same day un-pressurized and a temporary repair was conducted the day after. A permanent repair was conducted on May 23 through 26, 1980. However, the permanent repair of the tail strike was not accomplished in accordance with the Boeing SRM (Structure Repair Manual), in that the area of damaged skin in Section 46 was not removed and the repair doubler did not extend sufficiently beyond the entire damaged area to restore the structural strength. Consequently, after repeating cycles of depressurization and pressurization during flights, the weakened hull started to crack gradually and finally broke open in flight on that flight, exactly 22 years after the faulty repair has been applied to the damaged tail. An explosive depressurization of the aircraft occurred once the crack was broken, causing the complete disintegration of the aircraft mid-air. All 225 passengers and crew members were killed.

The aircraft was on a passenger flight from Beijing (China) and Dalian (China). The MD-82 was due to land at Dalian Airport at 9:40pm local time. At 9:20, the Captain reported a 'cabin fire' to air traffic controllers, and four minutes later, at 9:24, radio contact was lost as the aircraft disappeared from radar. The aircraft crashed into the Yellow Sea about 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the Dalian coast. A few months later, the Chinese government issued a report which blamed the crash on a fire started intentionally by a passenger, who was a terminally ill cancer patient. Before the flight, this passenger reportedly purchased seven flight insurance policies totalling more than 1.5 million RMB ($187,500 US Dollars). Additionally, investigators searching his apartment found a number of mineral water bottles filled with gasoline. All 112 passengers and crew members were killed in the accident.

The aircraft was on a passenger flight from Cairo (Egypt) to Tunis (Tunisia). It crashed while on approach to Tunis-Carthage Airport runway 11. Shortly before the accident, the Captain reported a landing gear malfunction, and had performed a low pass over the airfield. The aircraft crashed during its second approach. Weather around the time of the accident was poor, with strong winds and a surface visibility of 5000 meters. 14 of the 62 people onboard were killed.

The aircraft departed runway 05 at Kano's Aminu Kano International Airport for a passenger flight to the southern capital city of Lagos. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft developed engine problems, and crashed into a densely populated residential area near Gwammaja district, approximately 2 kilometers from Kano's airport. At least 73 people on the ground were killed, and 75 of the 79 people onboard were killed.