On 16 July 2022, Meridian Flight 3032, an

Antonov An-12BK The Antonov An-12 is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed and produced by Antonov. It was produced in many customized variants for uses within the country and for exports. The aircraft was used for military purposes, in emergen ...

flying from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

via

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, crashed near Antiphilippi,

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

, Greece while attempting to make an emergency landing at

Kavala International Airport Kavala International Airport "Alexander the Great" (Greek language, Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας «Μέγας Αλέξανδρος», ''Kratikós Aeroliménas Kaválas "Mégas Aléxandros"'') is an airport loca ...

. The aircraft was carrying of munitions when it crashed, which continued exploding until the next day, hindering the inspection of the crash site.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved first flew in 1971. It was acquired by Ukrainian cargo carrier Aviation Company Meridian in January 2022 and re-registered as UR-CIC.

Crew and cargo

The eight crew members, all Ukrainian citizens, died in the crash. According to Serbian defence minister

Nebojša Stefanović Nebojša Stefanović ( sr-Cyrl, Небојша Стефановић, ; born 20 November 1976) is a Serbian politician who served as deputy prime minister of Serbia from 2016 to 2022 and as minister of defence from 2020 to 2022. A member of the S ...

, the aircraft's cargo was some 11 tonnes of Serbian-made weapons and ammunition, including mortar shells.

Incident

The flight originated in Niš, Serbia and was bound for

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, Bangladesh, with stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and India. The aircraft departed from Niš at 18:36 UTC, with some 11 tonnes of ammunition on board, scheduled to arrive at Dhaka. Intermediate stops were planned in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. Eyewitness accounts and video showed that the plane was on fire before it crashed. Secondary explosions were heard for up to two hours after the crash. Residents within a radius were advised to close windows and stay indoors, while emergency responders, explosives experts and staff from the

Greek Atomic Energy Commission The Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE) is an independent government agency of Greece which is responsible for atomic safety, development and regulations and for monitoring artificially produced ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. The seven-m ...

were unable to inspect the wreckage due to uncertainty about the nature and state of any remaining cargo and residues. Drones were used instead to examine the wreckage.

Weapons destination

Amid speculation that the weapons were destined for Ukraine, Serbia's defence minister

stated that the weapons shipment was not linked to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, and the

Bangladesh Armed Forces The Bangladesh Armed Forces () is the Armed forces, military force of Bangladesh. It consists of three uniformed organizations, they are the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces is under the juri ...

confirmed that they were the intended recipients of the weapons, which they bought from a Polish-owned Bosnian company BA-METALEXPORT. Given Serbia's policy of oscillating between the West and Russia and Serbia's weapons industry and political corruption, political scientist Vuk Vuksanovic continued to question whether the plane was indeed transporting Serbian weapons to Ukraine.

Investigation

An investigation was opened by the

Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board National Aviation Investigation Agency and Railway Accidents and Transportation Safety ''(HARSIA Greek language, Greek:Εθνικός Οργανισμός Διερεύνησης Αεροπορικών και Σιδηροδρομικών Ατυχη ...

(AAIASB) with the support of the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine (NNBAAI). The Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

was able to download the

Cockpit voice recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...

that are providing all the essential data to the investigation. The investigation found that the airplane was involved in another incident one month before the crash on June 19, 2022. As of December 2023 the investigation is still ongoing and no final report is released.

References

External links

Playback flight route on Flight Radar 24

LLC Aircompany Meridian official website
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece 2022 disasters in Greece Accidents and incidents by airline of Europe Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-12 Aviation accidents and incidents in 2022 Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece History of Kavala July 2022 in Europe