Incident Overview
Date: Wednesday 13 August 2008
Aircraft Type: Fokker F-27 Friendship 500
Owner/operator: Fly540
Registration Number: 5Y-BVF
Location: 3 km from K-50 Airport –
ÿ Somalia
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: MainplaneMainplane
Category: Accident
An F-27 aircraft carrying the captain, first officer, engineer, and five crew members crashed in Somalia due to severe weather conditions. The aircraft circled the K50 Airport for several minutes before impacting a communication mast, resulting in a crash 50 meters ahead. All on board perished.An F-27 aircraft carrying the captain, first officer, engineer, and five crew members crashed in Somalia due to severe weather conditions. The aircraft circled the K50 Airport for several minutes before impacting a communication mast, resulting in a crash 50 meters ahead. All on board perished.
Description
The F-27 took off from Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) at about 02:30 hours for K50 Airport in Somalia. On board were the captain, first officer and an engineer plus 5.4 tons of khat. Estimated time of arrival at K50 was 04:50 hours. Witness reports indicate that K50 was that day experiencing the worst weather in decades. Cloud base was reported to be low with heavy fog. The aircraft is reported to have circled the airport for a few minutes before it impacted a 60 m communication mast about 3 Km from the airport. This impact sheared off part of one mainplane. The aircraft then crashed 50 m ahead in an open field. All on board perished. There was no fire.
Primary Cause
Severe weather conditions, specifically low cloud base and heavy fog, caused the aircraft to lose altitude and impact a communication mast.Severe weather conditions, specifically low cloud base and heavy fog, caused the aircraft to lose altitude and impact a communication mast.Share on:
