Scheduled Revenue Flight

Air Vietnam DC-3, XV-NID, was on a scheduled domestic flight from Huế to Đà Nẵng. It took off from Huế at 1420LT with 3 crew and 24 passengers aboard. The air route from Huế to Đà Nẵng is over the sea and requires alterations of course along the route. After take-off XV-NID headed out to sea and at 1423LT it took the first course at an altitude of about 300 meters (1,000 feet). At 1426LT the aircraft requested and obtained permission from Huế ATC to change to the Đà Nẵng ATC frequency 113.1 Mc/s. Difficulty in establishing radio communications between the aircraft and Đà Nẵng was experienced up 1436LT. At that time XV-NId requested the weather conditions and the runway in use at Đà Nẵng. Đà Nẵng transmitted the information which was acknowledged by the aircraft with the statement that it would call when on the downwind leg of runway 35. Đà Nẵng then requested the aircraft's position and estimated time of arrival but received no reply. Further attempts to contact XV-NID were unsuccessful. The accident occurred at approximately 1437LT. On 13 November the wreckage of the aircraft was located on a mountain at an elevation of 550 meters (1,800 feet), 19,6 km north northwest of Đà Nẵng Airport. All 27 occupants have been killed.

The four engine aircraft suffered an accident while taking off from La Paz-El Alto Airport, en route to Miami-Intl. The aircraft was written off while all 42 occupants were evacuated safely.

While on final approach to Seville-San Pablo Airport, the crew was able to send a brief mayday message, reporting that the aircraft caught fire. Shortly later, the airplane went out of control and crashed onto a hill located 4 km short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 18 occupants were killed.

The approach to Brno was started in limited visibility due to marginal weather conditions. On final, the airplane struck the top of a hill and crashed by a house located near the village of Slavkov, about 6 km from the runway 28 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and three crew members and ten passengers were killed, the rest of the occupants were injured, some of them seriously.

On final approach to Entebbe Airport, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed short of runway threshold. All four passengers were injured while the pilot was killed. It is believed he suffered a heart attack.

The crew was completing a flight from Magadan to Bilibino with intermediate stops at Berelekh, Zyryanka and Chersky. Due to poor weather at Bilibino, the aircraft, the crew and the passengers were grounded at Chersky for four days. Eventually, weather seemed to improve so the crew decided to depart Chersky in the morning of September 18. Few minutes after takeoff, the airplane entered a cloud area and while cruising at the altitude of 800 meters, it struck the snowy slope of Mt Belaya Strelka (975 meters high) located 46 km southeast of Chersky. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forced and a post crash fire and all 32 occupants were killed.

After departure from Khabarovsk-Novy Airport, the crew was cleared to climb to the altitude of 4,000 meters. Once this altitude was reached, ATC cleared the crew to continue to climb to 8,000 meters. While climbing to the altitude of 4,500 meters, the copilot was able to send a brief distress call, reporting severe vibrations and that control was lost. The airplane entered a dive and eventually crashed in a 50-60° nose-down attitude in a huge explosion some 15 km southwest of the village of Kurun, some 96 km northeast of Khabarovsk. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 86 occupants were killed.

While descending to Mostar, the crew encountered engine problems. The captain reduced his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing. The aircraft crash landed on the slope of Mt Prenj located 28 km north of Mostar Airport and came to rest in flames. While all 32 occupants evacuated safely, the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

The DC-3 took off from Barrancabermeja runway 03 at 15:57. After 250 m the aircraft began veering to the left of the centreline and then swerved to the right. At 490 m into the takeoff, the DC-3 left the runway, corrected direction, crossed the centreline again and traversed the left-hand safety strip. The pilot corrected to avoid a collision with the T wind indicator and the aircraft entered the parking apron. The pilot applied full power as he altered direction to align with the aircraft parallel with the main runway. The starboard wing grazed the apron surface, and the aircraft bounced several times. The pilot decided to takeoff from the apron and attempted after a run of another 258 m to lift the aircraft without the necessary speed. The wingtip struck two helicopters (one of the two being a Hiller UH-12, HK-781E) on the ground, and the tail skid and cone struck a fuel tank at the edge of the apron. The aircraft cartwheeled 180° to port and fell into a depression 30 m deep and 120 m from the northern edge of the apron.

The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro (Galeao Airport) and Lisbon. It arrived at Galeao Airport following an uneventful flight. Another crew took over for the last segment of the flight. The takeoff run began at 2303 hours GMT from runway 14. The aircraft's acceleration appeared to be normal. The pilot-in-command declared that, at a speed between 100 and 135 kt (V1), he noted that the control column was too far back and pushed it forward. At this point the co-pilot released the controls, which is normally done when the aircraft reaches V1. It is believed that in fact an attempt to rotate the aircraft was made around 132 kt. The aircraft continued to accelerate normally. The co-pilot announced 148 kt, the rotation speed (VR), and the pilot pulled back on the control column. However, the aircraft did not respond, so he pushed it forward again. No indication of this rotation attempt was revealed by the flight recorder reading. He and the co-pilot then pulled back on the control column, however, the nose of the aircraft did not rotate since the pilot had already reduced power 14 seconds after reaching VR. Also, the tape reading indicated that the brakes were used for 5 seconds prior to any power reduction. The first marks of braking were found approximately 2300 m from the threshold. The pilot realized that the aircraft could not be stopped on the remaining portion of the runway so he turned the aircraft off the runway to the right and fully reduced power. The brakes were applied but not reverse thrust. Heavy and steady braking marks started 2600 m from the threshold. Of his own accord, the co-pilot applied full power for reversion and tried to operate the spoilers but could not do so because of the bumps The right wing lowered, dragging engines No. 3 and 4. The left wheels of the landing gear sank into the sand, and engines No. 1 and 2 also began to drag. All four engines lost their ejectors and reversion cones, causing the aircraft to accelerate. It continued moving at a high speed, hit the airport wall, crossed the adjoining highway, lost engines No. 1 and 2 and the left landing gear and finally came to rest in the sea. 50 m from shore. It drifted 100 m while floating and then sank to a depth of 8 m. There were no lights on board the aircraft when it came to a stop as the automatic emergency lighting system did not function. One cabin attendant used one of the two flashlights available. The darkness increased the panic and confusion. The passengers could not use the main door as an exit because it would open into the sea. They did not know where the emergency exits were. However, the exits were then opened and most of the passengers left the aircraft on the starboard side. The fact that the lour exits were all in the central part of the fuselage hampered the evacuation as the number of passengers (94) was considerable. The crew left the aircraft via the cockpit windows. No instructions had been given on emergency procedures and therefore the passengers and most of the crew did not take their life jackets with them when leaving the aircraft. Although the aircraft was equipped with six life rafts no crew member tried to use them. The aircraft drifted 330 feet downstream and submerged in 25 minutes. A crew member and 14 passengers were killed, 46 occupants were wounded and 44 were uninjured.