10 Fatal Commercial Aircraft Crashes in 2016
April 13, 2017
Air transportation is believed to be safest mode of long distance travel but it does not mean that there is no accidents in aviation industry. The report of last year showed that 3.8 billion people flew safely on 40.4 million flights.
In the year 2016, 10 fatal commercial plane crashes happened killing 268 people.
1. West Atlantic CRJ-200 crashed in Sweden (8th January)
The freight carrier West Atlantic carrying 4.5 tonnes of mail crashed in a remote mountainous region on the Swedish side of the border with Norway 30 minutes after the takeoff. The flight was enroute to Tromso from Oslo. The two pilots died in the crash.
The report published on 12 December, 2016 concluded the crash was resulted by insufficient operational prerequisites for the management of a failure in a redundant system.
2. Tara Air Flight 193 crashed in Nepal (24th February)
Tara Air’s DHC-6-400 Twin Otter went missing 15 minutes after take-off from Pokhara airport. The communication with ATC was lost. The aircraft was found crashed in the jungle at Soli Ghoptebhir in the Myagdi, northwest of Pokhara.
All the 20 passengers and crew on board died in the fatal crash.
3. True Aviation AN-26 crashed in Bangladesh (9th March)
The Antonov AN-26 belonging to True Aviation crashed near Cox’s Bazar Airport in Bangladesh due to engine failure during take-off. The plane was carrying 972 boxes containing shrimps and it crashed while attempting to return to the airport.
There was a survivor with serious injury however; three other members of flight crew died.
4. Flydubai Flight 981 broke into pieces in Russia (19th March)
The Boeing 737-800 belonging to Flydubai crashed in Russia after aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.
Due to bad weather conditions, the pilots aborted first landing attempt and initiated a holding pattern near the airport whereas in second landing attempt, the pilots aborted once again and initiated go around at 220 meters. The plane faced a rapid descent when it reached to 1000 meters and collided with ground at speed of 323 knots.
All 62 people on board the flight died.
5. Silk Way Airlines AN-12 crashed in Afghanistan (18th May)
The cargo plane Antonov AN-12 of Silk Way Airlines encountered an engine failure shortly after take-off from Dwyen Airport in southern Afghanistan. The flight was enroute to Turkmenistan.
It took the life of 9 people however; the two crew members survived.
6. Egypt Air flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea (19th May)
Egypt Air flight 804 lost contact with radar when it was enroute to Cairo from Paris carrying 56 passengers, 7 aircrew and 3 security personnel. It lost contact with radar at 37,000 feet and disappeared before entering Egyptian airspace.
Four weeks later, the aircraft’s debris was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea 290 km north of Alexandria.
There were no survivors found.
7. Emirates Boeing 777 crash-landed at Dubai DXB Airport (3rd August)
The Emirates flight EK521 was enroute to Dubai from Trivandrum International Airport, Kerala. The Boeing 777 faced significant wind shear that impacted its airspeed at the late final approach. The aircraft skidded about 800 meters with first impact on its rear fuselage.
All 300 passengers on board survived however; the explosion of the aircraft’s center fuel tank killed a firefighter and injured 24 passengers.
8. LaMia Avro RJ85 carrying Chapecoense football team crashed in Colombia (28th November)
The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane Avro RJ85 was carrying Brazilian first division football team Chapecoense while it crashed near Medellin.
The flight was enroute to Colombia from Bolivia. The pilots declared a state of emergency and the radar contact was lost.
7 people were rescued alive whereas 71 died. The cause of the crash was the lack of sufficient fuel.
9. ATR-42 belonging to Pakistan Airlines crashed near Abbottabad, Pakistan (7th December)
PIA Flight 661 flying to Islamabad from Chitral carrying 47 passengers crashed near Abbottabad. The pilots declared emergency after encountering problems in the ATR 42-500’s left engine. The aircraft crashed at mountainous region after losing contact with radar.
All the passengers and crew on board died.
10. Aerosucre Boeing 727 overran the runway and crashed at Puerto Carreno, Colombia (21st December)
The Boeing 727-200 did not become airborne when it was performing a freight flight from Puerto Carreno to Bogota, Colombia.
While attempting to take-off, the aircraft went through the airport’s perimeter fence, impacted on ground and busted into flames.
Two passengers were rescued alive however; four other died on the spot.
