11 plane crashes in year 2013

The Embraer ERJ-190 operated by LAM Linhas Aereas de Mocambique took off from Maputo, Mozambique, for a passenger flight to Luanda, Angola. 27 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane disappeared from radar screens while it was en-route to its destination. The aircraft was found crashed and burnt down the following morning, on Namibia's territory in the Bwabwata National Park. All 33 occupants perished. The Embraer ERJ-190 was enroute at FL380 (approximately 11,400 meters high) when it began to descend at about 100 feet (30m) per second (6000 feet (1800m) per minute), it remained visible on radar until an altitude of about 3000 feet (900m). Radio contact was lost also at that moment. The wreckage is spread out on a small surface: this shows the plane impacted the ground violently with a high vertical speed. The aircraft had entered service with the airline on Nov 17th 2012 and had since accumulated 2905 flight hours in 1877 flight cycles. The aircraft had undergone its last inspection on Nov 28th 2013, the day before the accident. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder revealed, that the captain was alone on the flight deck, banging on the flight deck door could be heard on the cockpit voice recorder. The autoflight systems (autothrottle and autopilot) were engaged. There were sounds and clicks consistent with a person knowledgeable of the aircraft systems commanding the engines to idle thrust and selecting the autoflight systems into a descent at 6000 feet per minute. Numerous warnings and alerts were not responded to. The conclusion is that the captain intentionally crashed aircraft.

The Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737-500 operated on behalf of Ak Bars Aero took off from Moscow, Russia, for a passenger flight to Kazan, Russia. 44 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed during landing at Kazan airport. All 50 occupants were killed. During its first attempt to land on Kazan's runway 29 the crew executed a missed approach procedure. The crew had said they were not ready to land because of technical problems. During an attempt to land, the plane plummeted to the ground and crashed in a nearly vertical attitude between runway and main taxiway. The plane burst into flames and was completely destroyed. The accident happened at night. Light rain, moderate wind, low clouds, and moderate to good visibility were prevailing at the time of the accident.

The Fairchild Swearingen SA-227AC Metro III operated by Aerocon took off from Trinidad, Bolivia, for a passenger flight to Riberalta, Bolivia. 16 passengers and 2 crewmembers were onboard. The plane went off the runway after landing at Riberalta airport. Eight of the eighteen occupants onboard perished in the accident. The plane was approaching Riberalta's runway 14 in heavy rain, wind and poor visibility. The plane touched down on the asphalt, but then went off the runway, ran through brush, overturned and caught fire. A witness reported the plane touch down near the end of the runway. The aircraft came to rest about 300 meters outside the aerodrome. 8 passengers perished in the accident, one of the pilots and a passenger received serious injuries, the other pilot and 7 passengers escaped with minor injuries. Riberalta offers an asphalt runway 14/32 of 1830 meters/6000 feet length.

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 Airbus A300-600F operated by UPS took off from Louisville, KY, USA, for a cargo flight to Birmingham, AL, USA. 2 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed half-mile short of Birmingham’s runway in open terrain and burst into flames. Both occupants were killed. The accident occurred while the plane was on approach to Birmingham's runway 18. The plane touched down in an isolated grassy field on the outskirts of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, near the intersection Airport Road/Tarrant Huffman Road about half-mile short of the runway. The aircraft crashed, struck a massive hardwood tree and broke up. The nose of the plane was detached from the body. The plane skidded, leaving a trail of debris, and burst into flame. A piece of the fuselage and an engine are visible on the crest of the hill. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were rainy with low clouds. No people on the ground or houses on the ground were affected.

The Boeing 777-200 operated by Asiana Airlines took off from Seoul, South Korea, for a passenger flight to San Francisco, CA, USA. 291 passengers and 16 crewmembers were onboard. During landing, the plane touched down short of runway impacting the edge separating the runway from the San Francisco Bay, and crashed. 3 people were killed in the accident, 10 people were seriously injured, and 120 people were injured. The majority of survivors escaped without injuries. The aircraft was on a normal approach and the crew was cleared for a visual approach to runway 28L at San Francisco airport. There were no reports of windshear and no adverse weather conditions. During the approach there were remarks in the cockpit about being high on the approach, then on the glide path and some time later being below glidepath. The pilot began to pull back on the yoke to reduce rate of descent assuming the autothrottles would maintain the speed set to 137 knots. A lateral deviation developed taking the attention of the crew. 35 seconds prior to impact the automated 500 feet call sounded, shortly afterwards the landing checklist was completed. 18 seconds prior to impact the automated 200 feet call out sounded, 9 seconds prior to impact the automated 100 feet call out sounded, immediately afterwards the first comment for speed was heard. All PAPIs were red (indicating the plane was well below the glidepath) and the speed had decayed into the red/black marked range (well below the normal approach speed), the captain realised the autothrottles were not maintaining the target speed, at that point the pilot flying had already started to move the levers forward. About 3 seconds before impact the call for go-around occurred. A second call for go-around was heard 1.5 seconds before impact, this call came from a different crew member. The plane then impacted the edge separating the runway from the San Francisco Bay. Following first impact with the ground at high angle of pitch the aircraft lost gear and tail section, skidded along the runway, the tail and right wing rose to about 45 degrees, the left wing entangled with ground sending the aircraft in a spin and separating the engines, the aircraft turned around counterclockwise by nearly 360 degrees with the tail coming down again and stopped, burst into flames and burned out. The aircraft came to a rest left of the runway about 490 meters/1600 feet past the runway threshold. The tail plane, gear and engines separated. All passenger seats remained inside the aircraft cabin, only 3 flight attendant seats were ejected from the aircraft with the flight attendants seated in them. The fatalities are three young passengers.

The Boeing 747-400 freighter operated by National Air Cargo on behalf of US Mobility Command took off from Bagram, Afghanistan, for a cargo flight to Dubai Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates. 7 crewmembers and cargo consisting of 5 military vehicles were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 7 people onboard. The aircraft had been loaded with all cargo in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, about 300 NM southwest of Bagram. The aircraft subsequently positioned to Bagram for a refuelling stop. Then, the B747 took off from Bagram. The plane had just lifted off and was climbing through approximately 1200 feet when its nose sharply rose and the speed dropped. The aircraft subsequently stalled, leaving no chance of recovery to the pilots. The crew reported on frequency that the aircraft stalled due to a possible load shift. The B747 crashed a few seconds later and erupting in a blaze. The 4 pilots, 2 mechanics and a load master were killed. Accident investigators reported that quickly shifting cargo, consisting of three armored vehicles and two mine sweepers totalling at 80 tons of weight, caused the accident. The cargo slammed so hard at the back of the aircraft, that parts of the aircraft separated and wiring in the back was severed. As result of the shift and loss of aircraft parts the center of gravity moved so far back, that the attitude of the aircraft could no longer be controlled, the nose of the aircraft rose beyond the flying envelope of the aircraft and the aircraft stalled destroying the aircraft and killing all crew in the resulting impact.

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Lion Air took off from Bandung, Indonesia, for a passenger flight to Denpasar, Indonesia. 101 passengers and 7 crewmembers were onboard. The plane went into the sea while landing at Denpasar Airport. All occupants were evacuated from the aircraft and have been taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The plane was new, and was in operation for just about two weeks. The flight was performed uneventfully. The aircraft was on approach to Denpasar's runway 09, about 100 feet below a 3 degrees glidepath. The airplane came down in the water a few hundred of meter away short of the runway threshold, and a few meters away from the sea wall. The wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 snapped in half before coming to a stop in shallow water. No emergency message had been received by the air traffic controller prior to the accident. All 101 passengers and seven crew members were safely evacuated. Some swam from the wreckage, while others were plucked from the water by rescuers in rubber boats. Dozens suffered injuries.

The Fokker 50 operated by CAA Compagnie Africaine Aviation took off from Lodja, Congo, for a cargo flight to Goma, Congo. 6 crewmembers, 3 passengers and freight were onboard. The plane crashed in a residential area at Lake Kivu short of the runway while on approach to Goma's airport. The 6 crewmembers perished, and the 3 passengers survived. One person on the ground was hit by debris and was taken to a hospital with injuries. The aircraft has been destroyed. The plane was on approach to Goma’s airport in bad weather conditions: heavy rain, thunderstorm and strong crosswinds were reported. The plane hit buildings short of the runway and crashed onto open ground. The plane ended up some seven kilometres (four miles) from the runway.

The Antonov AN-24 operated by South Airlines took off from Odessa, Ukraine, for a passenger flight to Donetsk, Ukraine. 44 passengers and 8 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed while landing at Donetsk, killing 5 people and injuring many others. The plane performed an uneventful flight until the final moment of the landing phase. The crew had not reported any problems and not declared emergency or priority. Seconds before touching down, the aircraft rolled sharply to the right and impacted the ground off the runway twice, the right hand engine burst into flames, the aircraft spun right and came to a stop on soft ground to the right of runway and parallel taxiway. The captain reported that a patch of fog floated onto the runway obscuring the view, the runway disappeared from view. At that moment the aircraft impacted something. Preliminary data suggest, the aircraft's left wing tip hit the weather station, an unmanned mast holding sensors to measure and record weather data, while on final approach, then rolled right and hit ground with the right wing first and broke up, the aircraft crossed the parallel taxiway before coming to a stop. After the accident, the occupants were evacuated through holes and cracks, emergency services quickly put out the fire. 47 people survived the accident, 5 people are confirmed dead, 9 people were taken to hospitals, 26 received medical attention.

The Canadair CRJ-200 operated by Scat Airline took off from Kokshetau, Kazakhstan, for a domestic flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan. 16 passengers and 5 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed during its final approach to Almaty. All 21 occupants perished. The Canadian-built Bombardier Challenger CRJ-200 was on final approach to Almaty's runway 23R in poor visibility due to fog when the crew decided to go around but the aircraft disappeared from radar screens. The plane came down near the village of Kyzyl Tu, 1400 meters short of the runway threshold, in swampy terrain. There was no fire, no explosion, but the impact was so violent that the aircraft had been pulverized. Parts of the plane could be seen in the thick snow. Weather conditions were bad at the time of the accident, with thick fog and low visibility. The actual horizontal visibility was at 300 meters and vertical at 30 meters, requiring a CatIIIb capability, the crew was thus not permitted to land in these conditions, however was permitted to descend down to decision height (30 meters for this particular CRJ-200). The aircraft had planned for two alternate aerodromes, Karagranda and Astana, and carried sufficient fuel to reach either alternate after a go-around. Scat Airline is a private Kazakh airline blacklisted by the European community.