Selected international accidents 27 December 2019 – 29 March 2020
Date 27 December
Aircraft Fokker 100
Location Near Almaty Airport, Kazakhstan
Fatalities 12
Description Aircraft failed to take off, rolling left and right on first lift off and climbing to 20 ft before settling and leaving ground again but only rising to 11 ft. Landing again, it slid beyond the airport perimeter and struck a house beyond the runway at 147 kt, crashing nearby.
Date 3 January
Aircraft Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Location Near Dhana Airport, Madyha Pradesh, India
Fatalities 2
Description Aircraft on training flight crashed attempting night landing in fog, killing pilot and instructor.
Date 4 January
Aircraft Mooney M20J/ 205 MSE
Location Lifou, New Caledonia
Fatalities 4
Description Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances at 0100 local time. Victims included three air traffic controllers, whose deaths led to disruption of scheduled air services in the island.
Date 8 January
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Location Near Sabsahr, Iran
Fatalities 176
Description Airliner shot down in error by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Two missiles struck the aircraft seven minutes after take-off at height of about 8000 ft.
Date 13 January
Aircraft Diamond DA42 Twinstar
Location Changyang Mountain, Yichang, China
Fatalities 3
Description Aircraft with instructor and two students on board struck mountainous terrain for unknown reason
Date 26 January
Aircraft Sikorsky S76B
Location Calabasas, Los Angeles, US
Fatalities 9
Description Pilot advised he would climb above cloud layers and requested advisory services from ATC. Radar tracks showed aircraft in 4000 fpm descent at 160 kt shortly before it struck high ground. Passenger deaths included renowned professional basketball player Kobe Bryant.
Date 3 February
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Location Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen International Airport
Fatalities 3
Description Airliner overran runway, went down embankment and fuselage broke into three sections. Preliminary report says aircraft was struck by lightning several minutes before landing, where previous landing aircraft had experienced 37 kt tailwind late in approach.
Date 6 February
Aircraft Piper PA-32R-300 Cherokee Lance
Location Near Tuntutuliac Airport, Alaska, US
Fatalities 5
Description VFR commuter flight crashed in IMC 18 km from airport. Aircraft ad departed under special VFR clearance with ceiling of 600 ft. Pilot had 640 hours total experience.
Date 8 February
Aircraft Cessna 501 Citation
Location Near Fairmount, Georgia, US
Fatalities 4
Description Aircraft broke up during training flight. Crew reported problems with autopilot, and after reverting to hand-flying one pilot reported problems with left side attitude indicator. Crew reported being in clouds before loss of contact.
Date 12 February
Aircraft Piper PA-31-310 Navajo
Location Near Chia-Guaymaral Airport, Colombia
Fatalities 4
Description Aircraft crashed soon after take-off and was destroyed by immediate post-impact fire. Photos of wreckage suggest left propeller was not feathered and engine was not delivering power at time of crash.
Date 20 February
Aircraft Beech B200 King Air
Location Near Lake Coleman, Texas, US
Fatalities 3
Description Pilot reported faulty de-icing and began return to airport. Pilot reported instrument problems at 5000 ft on return leg. Final recorded track showed aircraft in decreasing radius turn. Aircraft struck ground in right wing low attitude, leaving 170 m debris trail.
Date 3 March
Aircraft Piper PA-46-310P Malibu
Location Watkinsville, Georgia, US
Fatalities 3
Description Private IFR flight crashed in stormy weather near Atlanta. Pilot was receiving vectors from ATC to avoid storm cells and told ATC, ‘I got a gap. I can go straight through.’ Witnesses saw aircraft in spin or spiral dive out of low overcast.
Date 7 March
Aircraft Boeing 777-300 ER/ Embraer ERJ-190
Location Toronto Pearson international Airport, Canada
Fatalities 0
Description An Air Canada Embraer ERJ-190 aborted take-off after a bird strike. While the ERJ-190 had been on take-off roll the tower controller had issued a take-off clearance to an Air Canada Boeing 777. The B777 crew read back clearance at the same time as the ERJ-190 crew advised they were aborting, and did not hear the smaller aircraft’s announcement. Moments later the B777 crew saw the ERJ-190 and aborted their take-off 110 kt. There was no damage or injuries.
Date 13 March
Aircraft Cessna 525 CitationJet
Location Porlamar-del Caribe Santiago Mariño International Airport, Venezuela
Fatalities 2
Description Aircraft overran runway after returning because of unspecified mechanical problem. Crew died from burns, with captain dying the following day and first officer dying on 30 March from injury-related pneumonia.
Date 24 March
Aircraft Bell 505 JetRanger X
Location Christiana, South Africa
Fatalities 1
Description After landing one of the helicopter’s skids sank into soft ground, causing it to roll and kill a passenger, the pilot’s daughter.
Date 29 March
Aircraft IAI 1124A Westwind II
Location Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippines
Fatalities 8
Description Aircraft on medevac flight overran runway on take-off and caught fire, killing flight crew, medical crew and two foreign passengers.
