13 plane crashes in year 2018

The Antonov AN-26 operated by Gomair took off from Tshikapa, Congo, for a cargo flight to Kinshasa, Congo. 7 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed while descending towards the destination of Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport. All 7 people onboard were killed. The cargo plane was returning from Tshikapa where it had delivered election materials for the national electoral commission (CENI). The plane was approaching its destination in poor visibility conditions. It was cleared to descend to 5000 feet. The plane crashed a few minutes later. Wreckage was found 20 NM (35km) away from the airport. Locals reported that the airplane was in very poor technical condition.

The Boeing 757-200 operated by Fly Jamaica Airways, took off from Georgetown, Guyana, for a passenger flight to Toronto, Canada. 120 passengers and 8 crewmembers were onboard. A few minutes after takeoff, the crew decided to come back to Georgetown because of a technical failure. The plane touched down in Georgetown airport, but the plane veered right off the runway and came to a stop to the right of the runway just short of the runway end. There were six minor injuries. The Boeing 757 departed Georgetown Airport at 02:09 hours local time. After departure the flight reported an issue with the hydraulic system. The climb was stopped before reaching FL200 and the aircraft turned back to Georgetown Airport. The aircraft touched down the runway at 02:53 hours (44 minutes after takeoff). It went off the runway and came to rest across the airport perimeter fence, in front of a steep ditch. Passengers exited the aircraft on escape slides. The aircraft sustained substantial damage with the right main gear ripped off, the right engine separated from the wing and right wing severely damaged.

The Boeing 747-400F operated by Sky Lease Cargo took off from Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, USA, for a cargo flight to Halifax International Airport, Canada. Four crewmembers were onboard. The aircraft landed on Halifax Airport but overran the runway and stopped in grass past the runway end. The four crew received minor injuries. During the approach, the tower controller reported wind from 260° at 16 knots, gusting to 21 knots and asked the flight if runway 14 was still acceptable. Runway 14 is a 2347m long asphalt runway and the 16 knots gusting at 21 knots wind from 260° would translate to an 8 knots gusting at 11 knots tailwind component. The flight crew confirmed and received authorization to land on runway 14. After landing the plane was unable to stop before the end of the runway, overran the end of the runway, went down a slope and through the localizer antenna and came to a stop about 210 meters past the runway end. The plane came to a stop less than 50 meters from a fence separating the airfield from Old Guysborough Road, a public two-lane road. The aircraft suffered substantial damage. The landing gears were ripped off, engines #2 and #3 separated, engines #1 and #4 damaged. The fuselage is severely damaged and even broken behind the wings. A fire erupted from the #2 engine that came to rest near the tail of the aircraft. However, there was no fire on the aircraft itself.

The Boeing 737-800 MAX operated by Lion Air took off from Jakarta, Indonesia, for a passenger flight to Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia. 181 passengers and 8 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed 35 NM (65 kilometers) northeast of Jakarta over the Java Sea about 13 minutes after takeoff. All 189 people onboard were killed. The plane took off at dawn, at 06h21 local time. Shortly after takeoff, the flight crew radioed the controller, requesting a return to the airport. The airline reported the aircraft encountered a technical problem. Radar indications showed the plane climbing erratically, barely reaching 5,400 feet (around 1600 meters), before quickly dropping and disappearing from radar. The wreckage of the twin-engine, narrow-body plane was detected in the Java Sea. Water depth at the site is about 30-35 meters. Weather was fine with light winds, scattered clouds at 2000 feet and a visibility of 8000 m. The aircraft was almost brand new, having flown just 800 hours. The plane is a new model of the Boeing best-selling 737, which first debuted in 1967. Boeing introduced the 737 MAX family of aircraft in 2011, using quieter engines and more fuel efficiency than previous models as selling points. This accident is the first of its kind for this variant of the Boeing 737. On November 7th 2018 the FAA released an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) 2018-23-51 concerning all Boeing 737 Max aircraft. This EAD states that “This emergency AD was prompted by analysis performed by the manufacturer showing that if an erroneously high single angle of attack (AOA) sensor input is received by the flight control system, there is a potential for repeated nose-down trim commands of the horizontal stabilizer. This condition, if not addressed, could cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the airplane, and lead to excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain.”

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Air Niugini took off from Pohnpei, Micronesia, for passenger flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, with an en-route stop at Chuuk, Micronesia. 35 passengers and 12 crewmembers were onboard. The plane was on final approach to Chuuk International Airport in poor weather when the aircraft came too low and touched down into the sea. The aircraft was evacuated, 46 passengers and crew were able to leave the aircraft. Some people were injured, a few seriously, but there is no critical injury. 1 passenger was killed. “I thought we landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in” said a passenger onboard. Weather conditions were poor, with high rain and low visibility. Cumulonimbus clouds were moving to the southwest at around 1000 feet over the airport. The plane came too low on the final approach, touched down into the sea and came to a stop about 140 meters left abeam of runway threshold. The fuselage remained in one piece while the plane was skidding, which contributed to the survivability of the accident. The plane floated a few minutes. Help arrived rapidly from a flotilla of local boats that rushed to the plane and evacuated 46 occupants stranded aboard the aircraft. The body of the missing passenger was found by divers 3 days later. Preliminary reports indicate that the Boeing 737 was approaching runway 04 of Chuuk International Airport when it impacted the water of Chuuk Lagoon about 1,500 ft (460 m) short of the runway threshold. As the aircraft settled in the water, it turned clockwise through 210 degrees and drifted 460 ft (140 m) south east of the runway extended centerline. The plane stopped with the nose pointing about 265 deg. One passenger was fatally injured, 6 other passengers received serious injuries.

The Dassault Falcon 50 business jet operated by Air American Flight Services, Inc., was substantially damaged when it overran the end of the runway during its landing at Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, South Carolina, USA. The plane took off from Clearwater, Florida, USA, for a passenger flight to Greenville. 2 passengers and 2 crewmembers were onboard. The two crewmembers were fatally injured in the accident, and the two passengers received serious injuries. Air traffic control personnel reported that the airplane touched down normally at a normal touchdown point on runway. They saw the airplane's sole thrust reverser on the center (No. 2) engine deploy. The controllers then watched as the airplane did not decelerate as it continued down the runway. An airport security video captured the airplane's touchdown and confirmed that the No. 2 thrust reverser and the airbrakes were deployed. The video also showed the airplane as it continued down to the end of the runway and then went over an embankment. First responders reported that all three engines were operating at full power for at least 20 minutes after the accident with, one engine running until about 40 minutes after the accident. Initial examination of the accident site, runway, and tire track evidence showed that the airplane departed the left edge of runway 19 near the departure end, traveled across the flat grassy area at the end of the runway, continued down a 50-foot embankment, and came to rest on the airport perimeter road about 425 feet from the runway. There was no fire. Fuel was observed leaking from the wings at the accident site.

The Let L-410 operated by South West Aviation took off from Juba, South Sudan, to Yirol, South Sudan. 20 passengers and 3 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed in a river shortly before landing at Yirol airport, about 1,75 NM south of the aerodrome. 20 occupants were killed in the accident, and 3 received serious injuries. The plane had been overhauled in 2016-2017 after having been stored for eight years.

The Embraer ERJ-190 operated by Aeromexico Connect was supposed to take off from Durango, Mexico, for a passenger flight to Mexico City, Mexico. 99 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane rejected takeoff from Durango's airport in adverse weather, and veered left off the runway, overran the end of the runway and burst into flames. All the occupants survived. 2 people received serious injuries, 83 people received minor injuries. The aircraft has been destroyed. The plane was accelerating on the runway and had already reached a high speed, close to V1, high speed when the crew decided to abort the takeoff. The plane never became airborne. It veered off the runway, ran through rough terrain causing substantial damage to the aircraft including both engines detaching from the airframe. The aircraft came to a stop and the crew instructed to evacuate. A fire broke out a few minutes later, consuming the aircraft. A Thunderstorm was moving across Durango airport at the time of the accident.

The Boeing 737-200 belonging to Global Aerolineas Damojh was operated on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion. The plane took off from Havanna, Cuba, for a domestic flight to Holguin, Cuba. 107 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The Boeing lost height and crashed seconds after takeoff, contacted a house, trees and a railway track and burst into flames. 112 occupants were killed in the accident. One survivor was hospitalized in critical condition. There was no significant weather condition at the time of the accident. Low wind, good visibility and high ceiling were prevailing. Witnesses on the ground reported they saw the aircraft climb out of Havana, turn sharply to the right and go down. A large explosion occurred when the aircraft impacted the ground. The plane crashed a few hundreds of feet away from the runway. Mexican transport officials confirmed that the jet belonged to Damojh Airlines, which was founded in Mexico in 1990 and also operates under the name Global Air. The airline has three 737 jets. The one that crashed Friday was manufactured in 1979 and was leased by Cubana Airlines.

The Ilyushin Il-76 operated by the Algerian Air Force took off from Boufarik, Algeria, for a military flight to Béchar Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport, Algeria. 247 soldiers with their family, as well as 10 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff burst into flames. All 257 occupants were killed. Witnesses saw the aircraft lifting off before losing altitude, crashing and bursting into flames. It is unclear whether a fire was observed before the aircraft crashed.

The de-Havilland Dash 8-400 operated by US-Bangla took off from Dhaka, Bangladesh, for a passenger flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. 67 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed during landing at Kathmandu. 49 occupants were killed, and 22 were rescued alive. The twin turboprop aircraft was on final approach to Kathmandu airport runway 02 cleared to land. However, the crew then requested to land on runway 20 (i.e. same runway but in the opposite direction), tower cleared the aircraft to land on runway 20. The plane flew past just above the air-traffic control tower during its descent for landing. It touched down the ground just next to a parked plane and ploughed through a fence on the east side of the airport and plunged into the lower ground. The aircraft burst into flames.

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 Antonov AN-148-100 operated by Saratov Airlines took off from Moscow Domodedovo, Russia, for a passenger flight to Orsk, Russia. 65 passengers and 6 crew members were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, about 50 NM (90 km) south-east of Moscow, in a snow field. All 71 people onboard were killed. Preliminary analysis shows that the Russian-made aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 6000 feet then entered in a steep descent and disappeared from radar and crashed. Communications with Air Traffic Controllers were normal until the plane disappeared from radar. Witnesses said the plane was in flames as it fell from the sky. The wreckage has been found strewn across a snowy field, near the village Stepanovskoye in the Ramensky District.