Cargo Aircraft crashes in Accra
 

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

Allied Air Cargo 727 to Lagos
 

Its a Nigerian cargo airline Allied Air B727.Here is a link Cargo plane crashes into Hajj Village | Local News

Cargo Aircraft crashes in Accra
 

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

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

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...

Reported by Aviation Herald
 

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.

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

Last Pan Am
 

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

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 :(

Accra crash
 

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

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

accra - Google Maps

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.

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.

Photographs from the crash:

Accra crash - 5N-BJN - Imgur

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.

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..

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

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

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?.

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.