Tanzanair - Tanzanian Air Services

En route to Zanzibar, while cruising at an altitude of 21,000 feet, the right engine failed. The pilot decided to divert to Arusha Airport when few minutes later, while passing 16,000 feet on descent, the left engine failed as well. The pilot attempted to ditch the aircraft into Lake Manyara. The aircraft belly landed and came to rest in shallow water, bent in two. All seven occupants were rescued by fishermen and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was operating a charter flight to carry a party of hunters to Muyowasi-Murungu Airstrip. It took off from Dar es Salaam at 06:00 with one pilot and nine passengers. It was also carrying a load of supplies for the Muyowosi hunting camp. The flight to destination was uneventful and the runway was in sight at 08:14 hours. On reaching the runway the aircraft was too high and the pilot had to lower the nose for descent to flaring height. When the aircraft was finally flared, it gained speed and floated for much of the way down the runway. After covering about two-thirds of the runway length the brakes became effective and the aircraft swerved to the right. On crossing the right edge of the runway it collided with stumps and trees as it rolled in the bush parallel to the runway centerline. As it did so the nose landing gear struck a stump and collapsed, causing both propellers to strike the ground. The aircraft finally came to rest a short distance beyond the right end of the runway. There was fuel spillage but fire did not brake out.

The aircraft was operating a company charter flight. It took off from Dar es salaam International airport at 0418 hrs for a flight to Morogoro where it was to pick passengers destined for Tabora. The pilot was the oni y occupant. At 0419:49 hrs 5H-TZD passed to the Dar Control Tower his estimates for TMA as 0439 hrs and Morogoro 0449 hrs. At 0425:13 hrs the aircraft reported to be maintaining flight level 60 and the Dar es Salaam Approach (which was then combined with the Tower advised him to maintain FL060 and to report on checking the TMA boundary. Subsequent to this and at about the same time 5H-TZD contacted the Military base located at Ngerengere on 118.25 MHz and requested permission to transit the Military area (HT) P6 (A) UNLI/GND. Permission was not granted because the area was active. (The pilot subsequently advised Ngerengere that he was to proceed to Morogoro by flying south of the Prohibited Area. The last communication between the aircraft and Ngerengere took place at 0439 hrs when the aircraft was south of Ngerengere. At 0440.08 hrs 5H-TZD called on 118.3 MHz (the Dar es Salaam Tower frequency) advising that he was transmitting blind and revised the TMA estimate to 0441 hours FL60. The ETA for Morogoro was a1so revised to 0451 hours. He was to call on Top of Descent. At 0440:31 hrs the Dar Tower acknow1edged the transmission. Subsequent to this a sound which resembled a series ot clicks of the mike was heard in the Dar Tower. There was no further Communication between 5H-TZD and the Dar es Salaam Tower. At 0850 hrs the owner of the aircraft telephoned the Dar es salaam Control Centre to alert that 5H-TZD had not landed at Morogoro. The Dar ACC instituted an ALERT PHASE and activated the Rescue Coordination Centre. The wreckage of this aircraft was discovered by villagers on top of Palapala mountains on 5 May 1996. The search and rescue effort took 11 days because of adverse weather conditions, the thick tropical vegetation at the crash site and the fact that the route of the aircraft was not known.

Shortly after takeoff from Tabora Airfield, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft encountered difficulties to gain height, stalled and crashed 130 metres past the runway end. All six occupants were injured.

While approaching Zanzibar Airport by night on a positioning flight from Dar es-Salaam, the twin engine airplane went out of control and crashed in the sea off Chenguu Island, few hundred metres offshore. The pilot, sole on board was killed.

En route, one of the engine failed. The pilot reduced his altitude and completed an emergency landing in a pasture. There were no casualties.