Sun Way Flight 4412 was an international scheduled cargo flight from Karachi, Pakistan, to Khartoum, Sudan. On 28 November 2010, the Ilyushin Il-76 operating the flight crashed while attempting to return to Karachi after one of the engines catastrophically failed shortly after take-off. Twelve people were killed in the crash: everyone on board the aircraft and four people on the ground.[1][nb 1] The engine failure was caused by metal fatigue resulting from operation of the engine beyond its design life.

Sun Way Flight 4412
4L-GNI, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date28 November 2010 (2010-11-28)
SummaryUncontained engine failure on take-off leading to loss of control
SiteWest of Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan
24°53.65′N 067°06.41′E / 24.89417°N 67.10683°E / 24.89417; 67.10683
Total fatalities12
Aircraft
Aircraft typeIlyushin Il-76TD
OperatorSun Way
Registration4L-GNI
Flight originJinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan
DestinationKhartoum International Airport, Sudan
Occupants8
Crew8
Fatalities8
Survivors0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities4

Accident

edit

Flight 4412 departed Karachi's Jinnah International Airport at 01:48 local time (20:48 UTC, 27 November) bound for Khartoum International Airport. The Ilyushin Il-76TD was carrying 31 tonnes of relief supplies for Sudan,[1] reported to be a cargo of tents. The crew of eight was composed of Russian and Ukrainian members.[3]

Eyewitnesses saw that one of the starboard engines was on fire as the aircraft climbed out of Jinnah. It then crashed into buildings under construction at a housing complex for the Pakistan Navy, setting several of them on fire, around 3 km (1.9 mi; 1.6 nmi) from the end of the runway.[4] Rescue authorities confirmed that four people were killed that were not on board the aircraft.[1]

The force of the explosion was so great that local residents thought that a bomb had exploded.[5] The ground casualties were reported to be construction workers.[6][7]

Aircraft

edit

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76TD with Georgian registration 4L-GNI, that was being operated by Sun Way, a Georgian cargo airline.[2] The aircraft was reported as having undergone a thorough technical inspection in the two weeks prior to the accident.[1]

Victims

edit
Nationality Fatalities Total
Crew On Ground
Ukraine 7 0 7
Pakistan 0 4 4
Russia 1 0 1
Total 8 4 12

Investigation

edit

The Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan conducted an investigation into the accident.[6] It emerged that the certified design life of the airframe and engines had expired in 2004, seven years before the accident, and that since then the aircraft had been operated without the manufacturer's approval. The weight of the Il-76 at take-off also exceeded by 5 tons the maximum allowed of 190 tons.[8]

The investigation determined that the accident sequence started with an uncontained failure of the second stage disk of the low-pressure compressor of engine number four, shortly after take-off. The failure was attributed to metal fatigue and was considered a direct result of the operation of the engine well past its design life.[8]

Debris ejected by the failed engine struck the right wing, damaging the flaps and piercing the fuel tanks. Fuel from the tanks ignited, further damaging the wing and flight controls to the extent that control of the aircraft could no longer be maintained. The aircraft then rolled out of control to the right and crashed to the ground.[8]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ According to The Aviation Herald.[1] The Aviation Safety Network says that only 3 people on the ground were killed.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Sun Way IL76 at Karachi on Nov 28th 2010, engine fire". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-76TD 4L-GNI". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. ^ Авиакатастрофа в Пакистане унесла жизни россиянина и 7 украинцев [Plane crash in Pakistan claimed the lives of Russian and 7 Ukrainians] (in Russian). Rian. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Cargo plane crashes in Karachi residential area". Reuters. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Vrachtvliegtuig crasht in woonwijk Pakistan" [Cargo plane crashes in residential area of Pakistan]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Plane from Karachi crashes with eight people on board". BBC News. BBC. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Cargo plane crashes in Karachi". The Express Tribune. 27 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  8. ^ a b c Final Investigation Report, Accident of Sunway Air Carrier (Georgia) Il-76TD Aircraft Reg # 4L-GNI at Karachi, Pakistan, on 27th November, 2010 (PDF) (Report). Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2019.