A (1968 built) Fokker F-27 mk.500 Friendship was operating a cargo flight on this day in aviation history in 2012. The aircraft had left Lokichoggio Airport in Kenya at 11.03 local time and had the Yida Airstrip in South Sudan as its destination. Onboard a crew of 3.
The aircraft on the airstrip (Source: www.baaa-acro.com © Unknown)
While cruising at 16.000 feet (4.800 meters) the #2 (right-hand) engine reportedly failed. At this time the aircraft had still approximately 100 miles to go to reach the Yida Airstrip. The crew attempted to restart the engine, which was successful and the engine produced power again. The crew’s joy was short-lived as the engine failed again after a short while.
The crew considered their options and decided to continue single-engine to the Yida Airstrip while monitoring the situation continuously and also keeping an eye on their descent rate as the aircraft was slowly losing altitude while flying single-engine. The flight continued uneventfully and a single-engine approach was flown to the Yida airstrip. A normal touchdown on main gears was made and the aircraft was de-rotated, bringing the nose landing gear down on the runway. Shortly afterward the crew heard an abnormal sound (Described as a “thud”) followed by the aircraft pitching down, the nose landing gear had failed.
The aircraft after being stripped for parts (Source: www.mafdupuis.wordpress.com © Unknown)
The aircraft decelerated on the runway while dust and other debris filled the cockpit from damage sustained to the aircraft’s nose section. When the aircraft came to a stop the necessary checklists were completed expeditiously and the crew evacuated the aircraft through the emergency exit. With the captain being the last one to vacate the aircraft. Neither of the crew members sustained any injury and there was no fire. It is unclear if any authority launched an investigation into the engine failure and the collapse nose landing gear. The operator released the following information on the accident;
The righthand engine had accumulated only 20 flight hours since the last engine overhaul
The nose landing gear failed as a result of a hairline crack in the gear assembly
As no safety authority report on the accident is available it remains unclear what the cause was of the engine failure and the collapse of the nose landing gear. The 44 year old aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Editorial note; This blog has been written based on open source information and might not give a correct representation of the events. We have been unable to find an official report on the accident.
The aircraft in better days (www.baaa-acro.com © Unknown)
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