Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW
David Learmount/LONDON
THREE SEPARATE crashes have left more than 150 people killed and at least 38 seriously injured in the CIS. An Azerbaijan Airways (AZAL) Tupolev Tu-134, a Baku Air Boeing 707 operated by AZAL, and an Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) Tu-154M all crashed within the space of a week.
The Azerbaijani accident occurred at 19:00 local time on 30 November when the Baku Air 707 freighter, inbound from Urumchi, China, hit the ground and caught fire about 10km (5.5nm) short of the runway on approach to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, killing two of the seven crew.
The pilots had reported failure of the gear to lock down on final approach and had been told to go around. The crash happened about 10min later. The 707, was leased from US company Cargo Jet.
The AZAL Tu-134B (4K-65703) crashed on 5 December, killing 49 people and injuring 33, having reportedly suffered a double engine-failure shortly after take-off from Nakhichevan for Baku. Unconfirmed reports suggest that overloading may have been a factor in both Azerbaijan accidents.
According to early reports, an ARIA Tu-154M with eight crew and 89 passengers on board, went missing early on 7 December on a flight from the island of Sakhalin, off Russia's far-eastern coast, to Khabarovsk. The aircraft is believed to have crashed on the mainland.
Cameroon Airlines lost a Boeing 737-200 in an accident on a night approach to Douala, Cameroon, on 3 December when the aircraft (TJ-CBE), operating a scheduled flight from Cotonou, Benin, crashed into a swamp 6km from the runway.
A reported 72 of the 77 people on board died in the accident, according to aviation-insurance loss adjuster Airclaims. Douala air-traffic control reports that the pilot had aborted a landing attempt, quoting undercarriage problems.
Source: Flight International
