Hard Landing at Barneo Ice Station Leads to Aircraft Abandonment and Loss in Arctic Ocean (RA-74056)

Incident Overview and Immediate Aftermath An aircraft completed an approach to the Barneo Ice Station under poor weather conditions with low visibility. During the landing, the aircraft experienced a hard touchdown with an acceleration of 2.4 g. This impact caused the right main landing gear to partially collapse, and the aircraft came to rest in a nose-up attitude on the icy runway. ## Evacuation and Aircraft Disposition All 17 occupants evacuated the aircraft safely. Although the aircraft sustained only slight damage, the decision was made to abandon it rather than attempt repairs. An insurance claim was submitted on 24 April 2015, and the engines were subsequently removed from the airframe. ## Subsequent Drift and Loss After being abandoned, the aircraft drifted westward with the ice floe. Between 26 and 27 July 2015, the floe cracked, causing the aircraft to sink in the Arctic Ocean.