Fokker F27 Friendship

The aircraft departed Riberalta-General Buech Airport at 1123LT on a flight to Guayaramerín, carrying 27 passengers and a crew of four, among them two children and one baby. Few minutes after takeoff, the crew was informed about the deterioration of the weather conditions at destination with limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. After landing and a course of about 300 metres, the airplane skidded on a wet runway. It went out of control, veered off runway, lost its both wings and came to rest. All 31 occupants were rescued but an 80 years old men died few hours later from a heart attack.

After landing on runway 02 at Chitral Airport, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest in a grassy and sandy area. All 40 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Buenos Aires-Ezeiza-Ministro Pistarini Airport on a night cargo service to Campinas-Viracopos with an intermediate stop in Porto Alegre. While cruising at an altitude of 17,000 feet, smoke was detected in the cargo compartment. The crew elected to extinguish the fire but without success. The crew contacted ATC, declared an emergency and attempted to divert to Montevideo Airport but ATC suggested the crew to divert to Melo which was the nearest airport. As this airfield was closed to traffic at this time, ATC contacted a night guard who switched on the runway lights and alerted the local emergency services. The aircraft landed 340 metres past the runway 07 threshold and stopped 640 metres further. The crew evacuated via the cockpit windows and was uninjured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

After landing at Tarauacá Airport, the crew started the braking procedure when control was lost. The aircraft veered off runway, collided with several obstacles and came to rest in a ditch. All 23 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

According to the pilot, an unsafe right gear indication was received during the approach, and the control tower controller confirmed the right gear was not fully extended. On landing roll the right main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid off of the runway. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed the drag brace was fractured. The fracture was located at the lower side of a transition from a smaller internal diameter on the upper piece to a larger internal diameter on the lower piece. The region of the fracture surface was flat and perpendicular to the tube longitudinal axis. The region had a smooth, curving boundary, also consistent with fatigue. The fatigue features emanated from multiple origins at the inner surface of the tube. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) requiring an inspections of main landing gear drag stay units. The AD was prompted by the fracture of a drag stay tube from fatigue cracking that initiated from an improperly machined transition radius at the inner surface of the tube. According to Fokker ,the Fokker F27 Mark 500 airplanes (such as the incident airplane) were not equipped with drag stay units having part number 200261001, 200485001, or 200684001. One tube, part number 200259300, had a change in internal diameter (stepped bore), and the other tube, part number 200485300, had a straight internal bore. AD 97-04-08 required an ultrasonic inspection to determine if the installed tube had a straight or stepped bore. A review of maintenance records revealed that the failed drag stay tube had accumulated 28, 285 total cycles.

The Airwork F-27 was on a training flight, during which the crew carried out an exercise that simulated a gear problem. They extended the gear using the emergency system. However, after landing they did not select the main gear handle down and in addition did not install the gear locking pins. The crew were then distracted by other events and during this the co-pilot selected the emergency gear handle up to reset the system. The main gear then partially collapsed.

The aircraft departed Islamabad on a flight to Kohat, carrying nine passengers and eight crew members. While descending to Kohat, the crew encountered poor visibility when, at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located 27 km from the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 17 occupants were killed, among them Mushaf Ali Mir, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Air Force and his wife. He was flying to Kohat with a delegation to perform the annual inspection of the airbase.