Crash of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan off Mohéli: 14 killed

Date & Time: Feb 26, 2022 at 1230 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5H-MZA
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Moroni - Mohéli
MSN:
208B-5278
YOM:
2016
Flight number:
Y61103
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
12
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
14
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane departed Moroni Airport at 1155LT on a schedule flight to Mohéli, carrying 12 passengers and two pilots. While approaching Mohéli, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions when the aircraft crashed in the sea some 2,5 km northwest of Mohéli-Bander es Eslam Airport. After 24 hours of intense research, only few debris were found floating on water (such a wheel and wing fragments). No trace of the 14 occupants was found.

Crash of a Cessna 404 Titan II in Moroni

Date & Time: Jul 18, 2019
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
D6-FAT
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moroni - Mohéli
MSN:
404-0216
YOM:
1978
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Moroni-Prince Saïd Ibrahim-Hahaya Airport, while climbing, the pilot encountered an unexpected situation and apparently attempted an emergency landing when the twin engine airplane struck the ground past the runway end and came to rest inverted. All 11 occupants were evacuated, a passenger and the pilot were injured. The aircraft was partially destroyed by a post crash fire.

Crash of an Embraer EMB-120ER Brasília off Moroni

Date & Time: Nov 27, 2012 at 1329 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
D6-HUA
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moroni - Ouani
MSN:
120-149
YOM:
1989
Flight number:
INZ170
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
25
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
5000
Captain / Total hours on type:
2000.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
5000
Circumstances:
The aircraft was on its way from Moroni-Hahaya-Iconi-Prince Saïd Ibrahim Airport to the Ouani Airport located on the neighboring island of Anjouan. Shortly after take off from runway 20, while in initial climb, the captain informed ATC about technical problem and elected to return. He realized he could not make it so he attempted to ditch the aircraft some 200 metres off shore, about 5 km from the airport. All 29 occupants were rescued, among them five were slightly injured.

Crash of an Airbus A310-324 off Moroni: 152 killed

Date & Time: Jun 30, 2009 at 0154 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
7O-ADJ
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Sanaa - Moroni
MSN:
535
YOM:
1990
Flight number:
IY626
Region:
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
142
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
152
Captain / Total flying hours:
7936
Captain / Total hours on type:
5314.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
3641
Copilot / Total hours on type:
3076
Aircraft flight hours:
53587
Aircraft flight cycles:
18129
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Sana'a, the crew started a night approach to Moroni-Prince Saïd Ibrahim Airport runway 02. Weather conditions were considered as good with a 10 km visibility, an OAT of 24° C. and a wind from 180° gusting to 25 knots for runway 20. For unknown reasons, the crew initiated a go-around procedure when the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea about 6 km from the airport. A young girl aged 12 was found alive few hours later while 152 other occupants were killed. Both CVR and DFDR were found almost two months later at a depth of 1,200 metres. The final report was published in June 2013.
Probable cause:
The accident was caused by inappropriate actions on part of the crew on flight controls which brought the aircraft into a stall that could not be recovered. These actions were successive to an unstabilized visual approach during which several alarms related to the proximity of the ground, the aircraft configuration and approach to stall sounded. Crew's attention was focused on the management of the path of the aircraft and the location of the runway, and they probably did not have enough mental resources available in this stressful situation, to respond adequately to these different alarms.
Contributing to the accident were the following factors:
- Weather conditions at the airport with winds gusting to 30 knots,
- Lack of training or pre-flight briefing of the crew in accordance with the Yemenia company operations manual, given the reluctance of the pilot to execute the MVI [Visual Maneuvering with Prescribed track] (none of the documents submitted in the investigation shows this training),
- The non-execution of the MVI maneuver by the crew (the plane left the LOC axis after the published point which is 5.2 NM), implying that the crew delayed the turn to reach the right hand downwind leg.
- The non-application by the crew of the procedure following the PULL UP-alarm.
Final Report:

Crash of a Let L-410UVP in Mutsamudu: 1 killed

Date & Time: Dec 27, 2002 at 1215 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
9XR-RB
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moroni - Mutsamudu
MSN:
81 06 36
YOM:
1981
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
13
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
While approaching Mutsamudu Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity and heavy rain falls. The crew followed a holding pattern about 30 km away from the airport for weather improvement. Few minutes later, the crew started the descent to Mutsamudu-Ouani Airport. On approach at an altitude of 2,500 feet, the aircraft was struck by lightning. The crew elected to initiate a go-around procedure but the electrical system partially failed due to lightning and both gyro compasses and artificial horizons failed. Control was lost and the aircraft crashed in a wooded area located few km from the airport. A passenger was killed while 15 other occupants were injured.

Crash of a Boeing 767 in Moroni: 125 killed

Date & Time: Nov 23, 1996 at 1515 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ET-AIZ
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Addis Ababa – Nairobi – Brazzaville – Lagos – Abidjan
MSN:
23916
YOM:
1987
Flight number:
ET961
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
163
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
125
Captain / Total flying hours:
11525
Captain / Total hours on type:
4067.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
6570
Copilot / Total hours on type:
3042
Aircraft flight hours:
32353
Aircraft flight cycles:
12623
Circumstances:
Ethiopian Airlines flight ET961 had taken off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 08:09 hours UTC for a scheduled flight to Abidjan, Ivory Coast via Nairobi, Kenya; Brazzaville, Congo; and Lagos, Nigeria. Twenty minutes after takeoff, at about 08:29 UTC, one passenger stood up from his seat and ran up the aisle to the cockpit, and two other passengers followed him heading for the cockpit. While rushing to the cockpit one of the men said "Everybody should be seated, I have a bomb!". Then they opened the cockpit door and stormed in. They declared to the pilots that there were eleven hijackers on board and beat the First Officer and forced him out of the cockpit. They then grabbed the fire axe and fire extinguisher bottle from their respective stowages and ordered the pilot-in-command to change direction and fly to Australia. The pilot-in-command explained to the hijackers that he had not enough fuel to reach Australia and demanded to make a refueling stop at Mombasa. The hijackers refused the refueling stop and continued arguing with the pilot-in-command. They insisted that they had learned from the inflight magazine that the B767 could fly 11 hours without refueling. After passing Dar es Salaam one of the hijackers ordered him to fly away from the coast, head to Australia and indicating to the altimeter not to descend below FL390. The pilot-in-command turned left towards the Comoros Island. The lead hijacker was sitting in the first officer's seat and was fiddling with the aircraft's controls, kicking the rudder, whilst also drinking whisky. The pilot-in-command kept on telling them that he was running short of fuel pointing to the fuel quantity indicators, but the hijackers did not listen. The leader continued fiddling with the controls, trying to turn the aileron and pulling the reverse thrust lever at random. As the flight came over the Comoros Islands the pilot-in-command saw the Moroni International Airport runway and circled 15-20 nm south of the field. Then the LOW FUEL CAUTION came on. The pilot-in-command pleaded to land because of low fuel. The hijackers were unconcerned and only insisted that the pilot not descend below FL390. At about 11:41 UTC the right engine ran down to wind milling speed. The pilot-in-command showed the red warning message for the right engine on the EICAS to the hijacker. At this moment, the hijacker left the right seat and went to the cabin door to discuss with the other two hijackers. This gave the captain the opportunity to pick up his microphone and address the passengers: "....ladies and gentlemen this is your pilot, we have run out of fuel and we are losing one engine this time, and we are expecting crash landing and that is all I have to say. we have lost already one engine, and I ask all passengers to react ..... to the hijackers ....". The hijacker then came back to the cockpit and hit the microphone out of the pilot's hand. After the right engine failed, the pilot started to descend the aircraft in order to increase speed, but the hijacker again interfered and violently played with the controls which resulted in improper control inputs. As a result the autopilot was disconnected and the flight became erratic with the airspeed varying between 216 and 336 kts. As the pilot regained control of the aircraft, the left engine went dead. The hijacker kept on instructing the pilot not to descend and again went to the cabin. Upon returning to the cockpit he saw that the altitude was decreasing, and angrily shouted at the pilot not to go any lower. The pilot said that the fuel was already finished and that the engines were without power. This time the hijacker instructed the captain not to touch the controls, and threatened to kill him. The captain said, "I am already dead because I am flying an airplane without engine power." The first officer, who had earlier been forced out to the First Class cabin, got up and, via the right aisle, went to the rear of the aircraft where he saw that a lot of economy class passengers had their life jackets on and that some had already inflated them. The first officer, along with the cabin crew members, helped the passengers to deflate the life jackets and showed them how the jackets should be re-inflated and how to assume the brace position during impact. While returning to the front of the aircraft, they repeated the same instructions as many times as they could. About less than 2 minutes before the ditching, the co-pilot forced his way to the cockpit shouting "let me help the pilot ...". After adjusting his seat and seat belts the pilot asked him for help since the controls were heavy. The hijackers still kept on struggling with the controls. By now, the aircraft was descending into the Indian Ocean over the Comoros Islands. The aircraft now had only standby instruments and RAT (Ram Air Turbine). The altimeter was indicating 150 feet and the airspeed was 200 kts. By this time the flight crew had been left alone to assume control. They turned the aircraft to the left in order to parallel the waves. However, the aircraft brushed the water in a left-wing-low attitude. It was then held straight and level after which it broke into four sections and came to rest in the sheltered waters 500 metres off Le Galawa Beach. Of the 175 occupants, 6 crew members and 119 passengers were fatally injured in the accident. Six crew members and 38 passengers sustained serious injuries, 2 passengers sustained minor injuries and 4 passengers received no injury.
Probable cause:
The Investigation Committee determines that the cause of this accident was unlawful interference by the hijackers which resulted in loss of engines thrust due to fuel exhaustion.
Final Report:

Crash of a Breguet Bre.1150 Atlantic in Moroni: 18 killed

Date & Time: Mar 10, 1981 at 0500 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
29/F-XVWD
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Moroni - Saint-Denis de la Réunion
MSN:
29
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
18
Circumstances:
Following a night takeoff from Moroni-Hahaya Airport runway 02, while climbing at an altitude of 500 feet, the airplane entered a right turn when it crashed on the slope of Mt Zembadjou located about 8 km northeast of the airport, bursting into flames. All 18 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Lt dV Philippe Mougenot,
Ens dV Jean-Yves Cistas,
Ens dV Olivier de Lassus Saint-Geniès,
MP Eugène Normant,
PM Serge Lapp,
PM Alain de Maison,
PM Yves Hennequart,
M Jean-Claude Montfort,
M Michel Renier,
M Éric Peraudeau,
M Dominique Faure,
M Patrick Boudouin,
M Dominique Moisdon,
SM François-Xavier Winterhalter,
SM Patrick Rousseau,
SM Jean-Louis Audren,
QM Bertrand Lion,
QM Éric Lourenco.
Probable cause:
It is believed that one of the engines caught fire during initial climb for unknown reasons.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.114 Heron 1B off Moroni: 16 killed

Date & Time: Jan 27, 1968
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
F-OCED
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dar es-Salaam - Moroni
MSN:
14040
YOM:
1954
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
16
Circumstances:
During the final approach to Moroni-Hahaya Airport following an uneventful flight from Dar es-Salaam, the crew failed to realize that his altitude was insufficient. On short final, the right wing struck approach lights. The captain increased engine power in an attempt to make a go-around when the airplane went to an excessive nose-up attitude, stalled and crashed into the sea near to the shore. None of the 16 occupants survived the crash.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the crew who let the airplane descending below the glide. While attempting to go-around, the flaps were fully extended.