Incident Overview

Description
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, 5Y-SAV, was operated on a round trip from Mogadishu to El Barde, Somalia on April 11, 2018. On the return leg to Mogadishu, the pilot commenced his take off roll at about 17:00 with fourteen persons on board and 450 litres of fuel. While on the take off roll, a stone apparently impacted the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot proceeded to bring the aircraft to a stop, shut down the engine and disembarked the passengers. Based on his own assessment of the damage, he elected to fly the aircraft to what he considered the nearest safest place the next morning. He departed El Barde at 06:25 on April 12 and landed in Wajir Airport at 08:15. He states that upon landing, he inspected the aircraft and realized the damage had become more pronounced. The left hand horizontal stabilizer was bent upwards with large tear near the fuselage. Part of the elevator had also almost broken off.
Primary Cause
Horizontal stabilizer impact during take-off.Horizontal stabilizer impact during take-off.Share on: