On 21 March 2011, a non-airworthy

Antonov An-12 The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than thr ...

transport aircraft of

Trans Air Congo Trans Air Congo (TAC) is an airline based at Pointe Noire Airport in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. History The company was established on 24 August 1994 by the El-Hage family and started services with a single Let 410 aircraft. Early serv ...

crashed into a densely populated neighbourhood of

Pointe Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before ...

, Republic of the Congo, while on final approach to land. All four occupants of the aircraft and 19 people on the ground were killed. Fourteen more people on the ground were injured.

Accident

The Antonov An-12 was on a domestic cargo flight from

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

Pointe Noire Airport Antonio-Agostinho-Neto International Airport is an airport serving Pointe-Noire, a coastal city in the Republic of the Congo. The runway is surrounded by the densely populated city, and is inland from the Atlantic shore. History The airport ...

in the Republic of the Congo. At around 15:30

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

on 21 March (14:30 UTC), while on final approach to the airport's runway 17, the aircraft rolled inverted and crashed to the ground in the Mvoumvou district of Pointe Noire. Weather conditions at the time were reported as good. According to the Russian Embassy, the flight had attempted an emergency ditching in the sea, but was unable to do so. Four crew members were on board. It was initially reported that five 'illegal' passengers were also on board, but this was later stated not to be the case. The use of the Antonov An-12 for carrying passengers is prohibited in the Republic of the Congo. There were conflicting reports about the number of dead and injured, with figures of 16, 17, and 19 reported. On 23 March, the Pointe-Noire mayor Roland Bouiti-Viaudo stated that 23 bodies had been recovered to date. The number of injured was 14. On 23 March, Congo's Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Congo issued an update stating only four crew were on the aircraft. They were killed, as were 19 on the ground. A video of the accident shows the Antonov rolling to starboard and nosediving to the ground inverted. In the video, the aircraft appears to be correctly configured for landing, with landing gear and flaps extended, but only engines No. 1 and 2 appear to be operating, trailing the characteristic smoke. A failure of both engines on the same wing for the aircraft type involved could reportedly lead to loss of control, due to the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

not having sufficient authority to counter the

asymmetric thrust The critical engine of a multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft is the engine that, in the event of failure, would most adversely affect the performance or handling abilities of an aircraft. On propeller aircraft, there is a difference in the remaining ...

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Soviet-built

with Congolese registration TN-AGK. It was fitted with four

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

engines

Ivchenko AI-20 The Ivchenko AI-20 is a Soviet turboprop engine developed by the Ivchenko design bureau in the 1950s. It has been built in large numbers, serving as the powerplant for both the Antonov An-12 transport and the Ilyushin Il-18 airliner. Design and d ...

. Built in 1963, the aircraft was no longer

airworthy In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is register ...

, according to a list published in 2006 by the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...

Investigation

A joint committee was set up by the Congolese Government to investigate the accident. Committee members include members of the Government, the police and representatives from the aviation industry in the Republic of the Congo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trans Air Congo Antonov An-12 crash, 2011 Aviation accidents and incidents in 2011 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Republic of the Congo 2011 in the Republic of the Congo Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-12 March 2011 events in Africa 2011 disasters in the Republic of the Congo