Cargo Aircraft crashes in Accra

[Teddy Robinson]

Local news reporting aircraft off the end of RW21 believed to be a B727

[obeema]

Its a Nigerian cargo airline Allied Air B727.Here is a link Cargo plane crashes into Hajj Village | Local News (http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201206/87684.php)

[Taildragger]

News reports that a Cargo Aircraft crashed on take off in Accra apparently hitting Bus before coming to rest.

[Evanelpus]

Nigerian Cargo airline Allied Air are the operator according to Sky News.

[Msylla]

From what I have been told, by friends in Ghana which work at the airport:

727 was wanting to land in bad weather at Kotoka(Accra), was advised to divert to Abidjan but still decided to land. Touched down halfway down the runway... wasn't able to brake fast enough...

[MELDreamer]

Crash: Allied Cargo B722 at Accra on Jun 2nd 2012, overran runway (http://avherald.com/h?article=45085318&opt=0)

[Teddy Robinson]

Don't think the METARS have the full story .. usually reliable sources have it that a violent TS with marked gust front was active very close to the time of the accident, which begs the question why was the diversion suggested .. and if so what was the imperative to land ?

Very sad that passers by appear to have been caught up in this and hope early reports are proved wrong.

[HEMS driver]

The probable cause should be determined on PPRuNe within 2-3 pages. :rolleyes:

[BobM2]

This aircraft was formerly N368PA, Clipper Goodwill, & flew Pan Am's last revenue flight Dec 4, 1991.

Photos: Boeing 727-221/Adv(F) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Allied-Air-Cargo/Boeing-727-221-Adv(F)/2060583/&sid=74fa379fb6d09c8b667de5c5c7dc4080)

[20milesout]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6829559339_be317f8d29.jpg

[Big Pistons Forever]

The probable cause should be determined on PPRuNe within 2-3 pages. :rolleyes:

I do not think the probable cause of this accident is going to be any different from almost all the other African aviation accidents. Sadly until the root causes of scabby operators operating junky aircraft which are aided and abetted by corrupt and incompetent regulators in airspace with non existent to terrible ATC services to airports that lack reliable landing aids and are often in unacceptably poor shape, the continent will continue to have an accident rate 15 times higher than the Western world.

The worst part is that many of the initiatives that the air transport authorities of first world nations and ICAO are implementing to help improve the situation are in danger of cutbacks due to national budget cutting. Even the limited improvements that have been achieved are now in jeopardy :(

[Featherlake]

I am not an expert but I have lived in Accra on and off since the early 90's. I always thought that this was an accident waiting to happen, the South end of the runway has very little "run-off" area.

A friend of mine just posted these photos on FB:

Accra crash - 5N-BJN - Imgur (http://imgur.com/a/56Ywg)

Here is a map of where the aircraft crashed, it overshot onto Giffard Road:

accra - Google Maps (http://goo.gl/maps/MNJb)

From what I can tell by hearing from friends the aircraft was landing during a thunder storm and overshot the runway, apparently a Turkish Airlines crew landed shortly before the ill-fated plane and they said that conditions were very bad.

[20milesout]

What happens in Africa, stays in Africa.

Neither Boeing nor the NTSB will send engineers to Ghana to investigate the accident of this 40 year old ship.

I´m afraid we will never learn why it happened.

[Featherlake]

Photographs from the crash:

Accra crash - 5N-BJN - Imgur (http://imgur.com/a/56Ywg)

[Airbubba]

This aircraft was formerly N368PA, Clipper Goodwill, & flew Pan Am's last revenue flight Dec 4, 1991.

Yep, it had -17R engines and was one of the last '72's off the production line. It even had that newfangled electronic pressurization control unlike the -235's over in Berlin. Seems like there were autothrottles that were certified for cruise only.

[Maurice Chavez]

You meant electric pneumatic press controller, like the 737... A lot of later model 727's had them. As for the runway excursion, push on-itis comes to mind...ABJ wx was not too bad this early evening..

[The Ancient Geek]

I´m afraid we will never learn why it happened.


Hmmmm - landed half way down the runway. Should have gone around.
Simple. A clear case of getthereitis.

[7478ti]

It is unfair to tag either the airplane's age, condition, or even the crew yet, ...until the facts are much better established. What is sad though, is that Africa isn't getting a higher priority by entities like the World bank, relating to getting foreign assistance from western states, for both quipping their aircraft with retrofit FMSs (e.g., like the HT9100s used on one major US carriers MD80s, or equivalent) that could be flying RNP departure and approach procedures to any needed runway, right now. That way no pilot need be enticed to land downwind, or half way down an 11,000 ft runway, due to minimum fuel, no good diversion choices, or marginal visual references. Instead, ATS and ANSP vendors are still marching all over Africa trying to peddle obsolete radars, outdated navaids, or trying to entice the use of already obsolete systems like SBAS or UAT, which are unlikely to help any transport, ever, from overrunning any runway, anywhere on that continent.

(see report below for a recent summary)


Accident: Allied Cargo B722 at Accra on Jun 2nd 2012, overran runway on landing
By Simon Hradecky, created Saturday, Jun 2nd 2012 20:51Z, last updated Saturday, Jun 2nd 2012 23:14Z An Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727-200 freighter on behalf of DHL Aviation Africa, registration 5N-BJN performing flight DHV-3 from Lagos (Nigeria) to Accra (Ghana) with 4 crew, was on approach to Kotoka International Airport but overran runway 21 upon landing and came to rest near the El Wak Sports Stadium at the Hajj village at about 19:10L (19:10Z) basically in one piece. The 4 crew were taken to a local hospital with injuries, the extent of which are unknown. 12 people on the ground, 11 occupants of a Benz 207 Bus and a soldier riding a bike along the road, have been killed, a number of injured were taken to a hospital. The aircraft received substantial damage.

Ground witnesses report the aircraft broke through the perimeter fence, went across a main road colliding with an occupied bus before coming to a stop. At the accident time there was a severe thunderstorm over the city.

Airport sources reported the aircraft had been landing on runway 21 touching half way down the runway resulting in the overrun.

The airline based in Lagos (Nigeria) operates 5 Boeing 727-200 freighters.

The airport confirmed an Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727-200 arriving from Lagos overran the end of runway 21 and collided with a mini van just after 19:00L. Despite the accident the airport remained operational, all flights are on schedule.

Accra's Kotoka International Airport features a runway 03/21 of 3400 meters/11150 feet length.

Latest available METARs:
DGAA 021800Z 17005KT 9999 FEW016 SCT031 FEW030CB 27/24 Q1013 TEMPO 5000 -TSRA BKN010
DGAA 021700Z 19009KT 9999 FEW016 FEW030CB 28/24 Q1011 TEMPO 5000 -TSRA BKN010
DGAA 021600Z 19011KT 9999 FEW012 FEW030CB 28/24 Q1011 TEMPO TS
DGAA 021500Z 19014KT 9999 SCT016 FEW030CB 30/24 Q1010 TEMPO TS
DGAA 021400Z 18012KT 9999 SCT048 FEW030CB 30/24 Q1011 NOSIG

[BobnSpike]

Hmmmm - landed half way down the runway. Should have gone around.
Simple. A clear case of getthereitis. HEMS driver said 2-3 pages until we had a probable cause. Here it is on page 1. Case closed.

Damn! These investigators just get better and better, don't they?.

[Stierado]

Is the idea of Pprune not to discuss and post facts, opinions and ideas !?!

Would be an incredibly boring place if we all just stuck to the clinical facts and waited for investigations to release the official findings, sometimes years down the road, wouldn't it ?

Whats wrong with people posting their perceptions or views on accidents here ?

It usually leads to discussions, which again, I thought was the idea of the forums.

If you don't like it, then don't read it or ignore it - you still have a choice.

[dc9-32]

It'll be back in the air by September.

[ironbutt57]

Glad you have it all sorted "world pilot"...:ugh:

[Hotel Tango]

I always thought that this was an accident waiting to happen, the South end of the runway has very little "run-off" area.

What utter rubbish! Check out the "run-off" areas at most airports and you'll notice a lot less than that. My own local airport (with B747 operations) is no better than that which Accra offers - and with a shorter runway. The bottom line is that if you plonk the a/c down where you should there's no problem. If you don't touch down by the required point then go around.

[Economics101]

For what it's worth, can I say that references to Accra's 11,000+ foot runway are bit misleading. Runway 21 has a displaced threshold and the landing distance available is about 9,800 feet. Might just make a difference. Also it might explain in part an eyewitness statemant that they appeared to land halfway down the runway.

[Hotel Tango]

Why should 9800ft make the difference? More than adequate for a B727. In fact even half of that would arguably be enough (albeit in dry conditions).

[BobnSpike]

From what has been reported, we can speculate that, as has happened in the past, an airplane landed long on a wet runway in bad weather and overran.

As has also happened in the past, this may have been the result of the crew simply pressing a bad approach rather than abandoning it. Assuming this is the case, which at this point is a pretty big assumption, we still do not know the circumstances leading to the decision.

What was their fuel state? Did they hold awaiting an improvement in the weather? Did, for some reason, their alternate become unusable and did they exhaust their alternate and reserve fuel awaiting a change at either the destination or the alternate?

What was the condition of the aircraft? Although we do not yet have any reports of an emergency being declared or of any technical issue, was something occurring on the airplane that necessitated continuation of a bad approach? Was there a fire? Was there an issue with the flight controls that rendered a possible overrun the better choice than ago around? What if the 200 goats they were carrying broke loose from their enclosure and were stampeding back and forth upsetting the CG?

Yes, there is plenty of room for discussion and speculation and yes, that is what these boards are for. But definitive statements of cause, especially ones that state "The crew messed up and this is what they should have done" while smoke is still rising from the wreckage are also fair game for discussion.

There are some on these boards whom I pray are never on my jury.

[batboy1970]

So why would the ATC even allow them to land in those conditions. I live less than a mile from Accra airport and heard this whole thing unfold, truth is the conditions were horrendous, as bad as ive seen in 4 years.

Its also reported that a Turkish aircraft that landed before this one experienced some problems. ??

Do the people operating the ever busying airport have their sh*t together, its not just a case of "what happens in africa stays in Africa", Accra is very busy indeed now with a lot of majors using it and some very busy periods of traffic landing and taking off in succession, mostly in the evening too, although its not to say that night landing was a factor in this incident but i dont supposed it helped the cause any, we are all aware that there has been a few close calls in Accra and it does seem to stem back to management of traffic.

[Hotel Tango]

So why would the ATC even allow them to land in those conditions.

Because it's not their call, that's why. The decision to land is the Captain's and not that of an air traffic controller.

[wingview]

Because it's not their call, that's why. The decision to land is the Captain's and not that of an air traffic controller.

ATC can close the airport due to weather.

But in this case people are even speculating if they were in TO or landing phase. In short, no info is reliable at the moment.

[batboy1970]

So in theory (not in this case perhaps) an ATC controller tells a pilot it's unsafe to land due to Wx and unsafe runway state and a pilot disregards an land regardless.......... Is that correct ?

[stepwilk]

an ATC controller tells a pilot it's unsafe to land due to Wx and unsafe runway state

Is the controller a pilot, more specifically a pilot with 727 PIC experience? Somehow, I doubt it.

[Best foot forward]

HT

Quite true except that one thing you can't tell from the air is the condition of the runway, if the surface isn't suitable for an acft to land on then someone on the ground should have the balls to make the decision to close the airfield. Whether thats ATC or the airfield operator, who both should have a vested interest in the safe operation of the airfield.

[FERetd]

Quote from Tom Imrich "What is sad though, is that Africa isn't getting a higher priority by entities like the World bank, relating to getting foreign assistance from western states...."

Tom Imrich (I'm rich?) Are you suggesting even more money is provided to the lost cause that is Africa? More funds to be squandered, pilfered, stolen etc. by inept governments that seem to abound on that continent.

African countries have been free from the their various colonial masters for many, many years now, the time for these countries to show their independence is long overdue.

Put your hand in your pocket if you wish but please leave my money alone.

[M.Mouse]

Quite true except that one thing you can't tell from the air is the condition of the runway, if the surface isn't suitable for an acft to land on then someone on the ground should have the balls to make the decision to close the airfield.

Written with level of naïveté that can only come from someone with no experience of operating in African airspace and into African airports.

It can be one of the most demanding areas of the world in which to operate for reasons which range from inaccurate or non-existent NOTAMs regarding aerodrome serviceabilities, inaccurate or completely out of date ATIS, incompetent air traffic control (which encompasses poor training/recurrent training and poor/non-existent equipment) not to mention the endemic corruption which plagues most of Africa in all walks of life.

Whatever the causes of the accident in Accra poorly maintained aircraft, poorly trained crews, poor airport infrastucture and ATC all play a part in the region's appalling accident rates. Unfortunately it isn't going to change any time soon.

[Teddy Robinson]

Hey guys .. cut the cr@p please.
People lost their lives and loved ones, go bicker elsewhere.

There are as previously mentioned some serious operational issues to which should be added dynamic patterns of often very severe weather, and lack of suitable alternates. It can be a very demanding place in which to operate.

[Best foot forward]

Oh Mr Mouse you are so wrong, you missed the point completely and just chose to belittle a reasonable comment that wasn't just about Africa. There are very few places that will shut a runway, I have refused to operate in the Uk when the rwy srface has been unuseable and no one had closed the airfield, nad I have been in Lagos when they have closed the airfield due to weather conditions.

[con-pilot]

I've never encountered ATC closing an airport or runway for any reason. However, I have where airport management has for different reasons, ranging from contamination to weather related.

[eagleflier]

@conpilot, best foot forward is right. I've heard Lagos ATC say more than once, "airfield closed due wx". But only when viz or cloud base drops below ils minima or state minima. Only way you are getting in is if you declare an emergency

[Loose rivets]

Gees, con, you're lucky. Edinburgh let me carry on the roughest approach of my life to sub a thousand feet, then gave me a SnowClo. 'twas a :ugh: moment.

[ATC Watcher]

48h, and not only the causes but the trial is on and the guilty identified and crucified ! a new record...:ok:

Landing with a CB above the field is not limited to Africa and African airlines, Toronto comes to my mind . ( an please leave jokes about AF ) so this not another "African problem " .

It is normally not up to ATC to close an airport due weather , it is the (commercial) airport owner/operator. And normally they are pretty slow in reacting. CB is per nature temporary , so unlikely to qualify. (unlike snow for instance).

ATC can close a runway due presence of Forgein object, vehicle, , obstacle, etc... but normally not for a CB passing over. PIC decides to try , to continue or to go around, his call ,not ATC.

But in this case who says the CB was the main cause ?
many other options , like cargo getting loose , brake/reverse/ failures, the list is long.

[NaijaPilot]

Arik Air 075 Lagos - Accra which was on approach ahead of the incident plane encountered low level weather and micro bursts abandoned approach and diverted to Lagos.

[eagleflier]

A friend of mine resigned from Allied few months ago. 4 aircraft, 4 First Officers. Do the math.

[StressFree]

About a year ago I took off from Accra to return directly back to London, about 20 minutes later due to quite bad tech issues I decided to return back to Accra.

The ATC were very helpful and professional and cleared the sky for me to dump fuel, descend at my discretion and make a direct and immediate return. They also offered me immediate track and distance information back to Accra and other airfields.

I'm not saying its perfect, but my experience of Accra ATC was very impressive, when back on the ground I thanked the controller for his help.

Let us therefore not be too hard on any people involved in this tradegy until we know the facts.

[Trim Stab]

As Stressfree states, there is nothing wrong with ATC or runway at Accra.

I heard from a well-placed source in Accra last week that the aircraft was found to have very little fuel in its tanks.

Accra has cheap fuel by regional standards, so it is common for commercial aircraft to uplift regulatory minimum fuel at their departure airport and to tank at Accra. The flight also apparently had a lot of bad weather en-route.

One scenario under investigation is that the aircraft used more fuel than planned en-route due to Wx, and the captain preferred to continue on a non-stabilised approach rather than risk a go-around with very low fuel.

[Brookmans Park]

This R /W is shown as having CAT2 ILS was it working?

[Teddy Robinson]

On the night in question the ILS was serviceable, after the B727 ran off the end it was not, and remains not.

[Teddy Robinson]

Where is the Accident report ?????

[skridlov]

I suppose this won't last long but here goes anyway.
Back in the 80s I was involved in sales and hire of broadcast television hardware, based in London. I had quite a few Nigerian customers. One common factor amongst them was that they didn't trust The System to repay their VAT. So I usually offered to run them and their purchases (which could be very heavy and bulky) out to Heathrow for the 2100 Nigerian Airways flight to Lagos from T3 and to physically present the hardware to Customs in order to get the export forms stamped (I hadn't charged the VAT). Customs would usually come down to meet me at the NA check-in - where, every time, there were at least half the passengers doing "private deals" with the check in staff (ie bribing them to undercharge/under-weigh their luggage).

One day one of the Customs guys said to me "I sometimes wonder how this flight gets off the runway every night, there's so much undeclared baggage on board." On that occasion we'd checked in a projection TV system the size of a small car.

Of course this has nothing to do with the crash in question and I imagine nothing like this ever happens these days. Does it?

[Phantom Driver]

I imagine nothing like this ever happens these days. Does it?


Loadsheet (manual) in those days used to be signed and thrown away. Good practice was to then look out the side window at pax boarding (no airbridge at domestic terminal), and then adjust take-off weight accordingly.

One chap was struggling to load his "hand luggage" in the overhead. Closer inspection revealed a car engine block; must have weighed a good 20 kgs, as opposed to the manifested 7 kg.....

Derate take-off on the 737? No such thing. EGT nudging redline most days. First you knew of your actual take off weight was usually on take off.