12 plane crashes in year 2015

The Antonov AN-12B operated by Allied Services Limited was performing a freight flight from Juba, South Sudan, to Paloich, South Sudan. 43 passengers and crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed seconds after takeoff into a hill. 40 occupants have been killed. 3 occupants survived with serious injuries. The Russian-built cargo plane departed Juba's airport, and was bound for the South Sudanese town of Paloich. The Antonov AN-12B turbo prop plane impacted a hill about 1100 meters past the runway end and came to rest at the banks of White Nile River. Photos show the charred wreckage of a plane in the reeds near the riverbank. The cause of the accident is still unknown. Antonov reported that the aircraft had not been permitted to fly as required maintenance as well as the extension of service life and the necessary work to enable service life extension had not been performed in time. The aircraft had been built on the company's factory in Tashkent in 1971 and was registered in the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Airbus A321-200 operated by Metrojet took off from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, for a passenger flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. 217 passengers and 7 crewmembers were onboard. 23 minutes after takeoff, while the plane was over the Sinai desert, it plummeted from the sky and crashed in Wadi Al-Zolomat, about 60 NM south of Al-Arish. All 224 occupants were killed. The plane departed the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, near the southern tip of the Sinai. It vanished from radar 23 minutes into the flight, while it was climbing through FL307 over the Sinai desert. There was no distress call from the crew. The wreckage has located in mountainous terrain straight below the last transmitted transponder position. The debris field expands 350 by 3200 meters (1150 by 10460 feet). Due to the large surface of the debris field, investigators believe that the aircraft broke up in midair. According to Egyptian Authorities, there is no evidence of hostile or missile activity around the flight path of the aircraft. The weather in the area was clear at the time of the accident. The director of Russia's Federal Security Service stated that he has studied the passengers’ personal belongings and luggage and fragments of the plane that crashed in Egypt. An expert examination of all these objects has found traces of foreign-made explosives. According to the experts, a self-made explosive device equivalent up to 1 kg of TNT was set off on board, which explains why the fragments of the aircraft were scattered over a large area. On November 17th 2015, the cause of the accident has been officially recognised as being a terrorist act.

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 Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane, operated by the Indonesian Air Force, took off from Medan, Indonesia, for a military flight to Tanjung, Indonesia. On board were a crew of 12 and 101 passengers. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff in a populated area. All 113 occupants were killed in the crash. 22 people on ground have been caught up in the crash and were killed. The plane took off from Medan-Soewondo Air Force Base, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was carrying Military personnel and their family members, students and other civilians (sometimes, Indonesian civilians also hitch rides on military flights to get to islands which might otherwise be inaccessible). The plane was also carrying logistical supplies to bases. Shortly after takeoff, the crew radioed that they were returning to base. About two minutes later the aircraft impacted buildings, crashed, and burst into flames. The crash site is 5 kilometers (3 NM) from the air base. Images from the scene showed crowds gathering around the wreckage of the plane amid damaged buildings and a burned-out car. Thick smoke rose from the smouldering debris as firefighters battled to put out the flames. The aircraft, built in the United States in the 1960s, had been inspected and cleared to fly before it took off from Medan.

The Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II turboprop aircraft, operated by Aeronaves TSM took off from Querétaro Airport, Mexico, for a test flight. The plane was supposed to return to Querétaro Airport after the flight. 2 crewmembers and 3 passengers were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff. All 5 people onboard were killed. The plane was operating a post-maintenance test flight. It fell almost vertically and burst into flames after impacting the side of a highway, 11 km southwest of the airport. A video caught by a security camera shows the plane plummeting from the sky, followed by another aircraft part. This is consistent with an in-flight break-up of the aircraft structure.

The Airbus A400M Atlas military transport plane operated by Airbus Defence and Space took off from Sevilla airport for a test flight. Shortly after takeoff the plane lost altitude, crashed in a field and burned. 6 crewmembers were onboard. 4 people were killed, and 2 people were seriously injured. The aircraft took off from runway 09 at 12:54 hours local time. Weather conditions were good. The aircraft was newly built. It was intended to be delivered soon to the Turkish Air Force. For that purpose, the pilot, co-pilot, a mechanic and three engineers were conducting a test flight. The aircraft took off, climbed but started to lose altitude about 2 minutes after takeoff and crashed around 1 minute later.

The Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II cargo plane, operated by Carson Air, was carrying freight from Vancouver International Airport, Canada, to Prince George Airport, British Columbia, Canada with a crew of two pilots on board. Shortly after departure, approximately 15 nautical miles north of the airport, when the aircraft was at about 2400 metres above sea level, lost altitude rapidly and crashed. Both occupants were killed. Rescue ground search crews found aircraft wreckage in steep and heavily wooded terrain southeast of Crown Mountain. More wreckage, including the cockpit, was found the next day. There was a small fire in the area of the right engine nacelle. The emergency locator transmitter activated, but did not transmit (no signal was received). The crew did not declare an emergency. The aircraft dropped from an altitude of 2,400 metres to about 900 metres — the height at which the wreckage was found — in less than 20 seconds. This with the wreckage dispersal and the lack of terrain damage is consistent with an in-flight break-up, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

The Airbus A320 operated by Air Canada from Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a passenger flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. There were 133 passengers and 5 crew members on board. The plane crashed on landing at Halifax airport. All the occupants exited the aircraft. 25 people were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries. Weather conditions were bad with heavy winds and snowfalls at the time of the accident. The plane collided with terrain approximately 1100 feet (335 meters) from the threshold of Runway 05, eventually coming to rest about 1100 feet (335 meters) down the runway. The initial impact was significant and caused substantial damage to the aircraft. The main landing gear separated and the underside of the aircraft was heavily damaged (fuselage and wings). During this impact, the aircraft collided with a localizer antenna array – part of the instrument landing system – and became airborne again, travelling forward on Runway 05. There is an extensive debris field between the localizer antenna location and the threshold of the runway.

The A320-200 operated by Germanwings took off from Barcelona, Spain, for a passenger flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. 144 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane was enroute at FL380 about 30nm southeast of Marseille (France) when the aircraft initiated a rapid descent and crash in the Alps, about 12nm southwest of Barcelonnette (France), 75nm northeast of Marseille. The 150 people onboard were killed. The aircraft reached its cruising altitude at FL380. A few minutes later the aircraft initiated a descend. It descended from FL380 through FL110 in 8 minutes (average rate of descent 3375 ft/min). The last radar position recorded by French ATC was at 6175 feet MSL on a northeasterly heading of 26 degrees true. Mountains rise up to 8900 feet about 1NM north of the last reported aircraft position. The aircraft impacted ground at very high speed (at about 500 km/h) and was completely destroyed. Both CVR and DFDR (black boxes) were recovered. The first officer was alone in the cockpit when the plane started the descent, until the crash. The captain left the cockpit for a toilet break. The first officer was not talking, only normal breathing could be heard after the captain departed the cockpit. The captain was not able to get back into the cockpit. The first officer initiated a rapid descent, there was no reason to initiate the rapid descent, there was no reason to not communicate with air traffic control, and there was no reason why the door wouldn't open. Breathing of the first officer is not consistent with someone suffering a heart attack or other health issue. Other than that there is absolute silence in the cockpit, screams are heard only in the last few moments. There were no words heard during the last 10 minutes of the flight. Investigations showed that the pilot in the cockpit used the autopilot to descend the aircraft down to 100 feet, on several occasions the speed of the aircraft was adjusted during the descent. Investigators stated the first officer deliberately crashed the aircraft, and kept locked the cockpit door to avoid the captain coming back in the cockpit. Cockpit door functioning

The Beechcraft 1900C operated by Aeropanamericano took off from Miami Executive Airport, Florida, USA, for a ferry flight to Providenciales International Airport, Turks and Caicos Islands. Two crewmembers and two passengers were onboard. The plane was destroyed during collision with terrain, following a loss of engine thrust during initial climb. The two foreign certificated pilots and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane had undergone routine maintenance in Miami and was returning to Venezuela. The twenty-one-seat airplane was powered by two 1,100 horsepower turboprop engines, equipped with four-blade. Review of maintenance records revealed that the left engine propeller had been due for overhaul. It was removed and replaced with an overhauled propeller prior to the accident flight and the accident flight was the first flight after the overhauled propeller was installed on the left engine. Review of radar and communication data from the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that the flight was cleared for takeoff at 1436:45. At 1438:15, one of the pilots reported an "engine failure" to air traffic control. The controller asked the pilot if he would like to return to the airport and the pilot replied affirmative. The controller then offered a 180-degree turn to runway 9R and the pilot requested a left traffic pattern to runway 27L, which the controller approved; however, the airplane subsequently impacted a utility pole and terrain about 2 miles west of the runway. A postcrash fire consumed a majority of the cockpit and cabin. Witnesses observed the airplane flying low, with the left wing down and the left propeller turning slower than the right propeller, before the airplane impacted the utility pole. The airplane came to rest upright in a field against several trees. The beginning of a debris path was observed near a severed utility pole where scrape marks across the adjacent road were consistent with left wingtip contact. Additionally, sections of left propeller blades were located near the utility pole and along the debris path, consistent with the left propeller impacting the utility pole as the left wingtip was scraping the ground. The debris path extended about 240 feet, on a magnetic heading of 240 degrees, to the main wreckage.

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 Boeing 737-400 cargo plane operated by Ethiopian Airlines for ASKY Airlines took off from Lome Airport, Togo, for a cargo flight to Accra-Kotoka Airport, Ghana. Three crewmembers were onboard. The aircraft sustained substantial damage in a runway excursion on landing at Accra-Kotoka Airport. The three crew members were injured. Ethiopian Airlines reported that the airplane suffered flat tyres upon landing. The investigation committee stated in a preliminary report that poor visibility was a contributing factor. Photos from the accident show that the aircraft came to rest off the runway with a separated right hand main gear and engine. The nose was damaged by the separated engine #2.