Incident
A cargo flight departed Khartoum at 0555 local time on a scheduled service to Juba with eight crew members on board. While cruising at flight level 170 in adverse weather conditions, the aircraft experienced a series of engine failures, culminating in a crash.
Sequence of Events
Engine number 1 failed first. One minute later, engine number 3 failed, followed by engine number 4 after an additional 40 seconds. The aircraft initiated a descent at a rate of 3,450 feet per minute, reaching an altitude of 800 feet three minutes and 40 seconds after the initial engine failure. At 600 feet, the crew stabilized the aircraft and attempted to restart the three failed engines, but without success. The aircraft subsequently struck trees, losing its left stabilizer, and crashed into a prairie 264 meters past the initial impact, bursting into flames. One crew member was rescued; the other seven occupants were killed.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause to be loss of control and subsequent ground impact following the failure of engines number 1, 3, and 4. Contributing factors included: the crew entering an area of thunderstorm activity with turbulence and icing conditions; unserviceability or sudden failure of the weather radar; accumulation of ice causing blockage of the engines' air intake assemblies; and, following impact with trees, the running engine number 2 causing the fire.