Incident Overview

Description
The aircraft took off from Addis Ababa at 07:50 hours and landed at Debre Markos at 08:50 hours. After a ground time of about 4 hours the aircraft took off with 415 l (110 us gal) of fuel and 265 l (70 us gal) of insecticide on board for a crop pest control spraying operation near Dejen, about 75 km south-east of Debre Markos. The pilot stated that after 1 hours of spraying a gradual drop of fuel pressure occurred on the right engine, followed by momentary surging. A power loss was noticed and the aircraft started to sink rapidly. The pilot made a left turn in an attempt to reach a clear area and made a forced landing in an open crop plantation. After rolling for about 200 m the aircraft ran into a ditch and the nose and left main landing gears were broken. The aircraft then skidded about 20 m before coming to a stop. The reason the aircraft lost height on one engine was that it was 960 lbs overweight.
Primary Cause
Overweight aircraftOverweight aircraftShare on: