Incident
At 13:09 GMT on the day of the accident, Middle East Airlines Flight 265, a Vickers Viscount registered OD-ADE, reported being over the Ankara NDB at 8,000 feet, descending for 6,500 feet, and had been cleared for an approach to runway 03 at Ankara-Esenboğa Airport. The last radio contact was made at that time, with the crew stating they would contact Ankara again when inbound over the NDB.
Earlier, at 11:22 GMT, a Douglas C-47 transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force (registration CBK-28) had departed Ankara's Etimesgut Air Base for an instrument training flight in the southeast region of the Gölbaşı beacon, with a planned duration of 1 hour 30 minutes. During such training flights, the student pilot occupies the left seat with an orange plexiglass panel on the left half of the windshield and wears dark blue glasses, while the instructor sits in the right seat and maintains lookout. The training maneuvers were completed, and the C-47 was returning to Etimesgut under visual flight rules (VFR).
The Viscount, cruising on a heading of 283°, collided with the C-47 flying on a heading of 243° towards Etimesgut. The lower right-hand side of the Viscount's nose and its starboard wing struck the C-47 from behind at a 40° angle in the door area on its port side. Propeller No. 3 struck and cut off the C-47's left horizontal stabilizer, with blade ends remaining attached to the tail unit near the base. Propeller No. 4 cut the underside of the tip of the right horizontal stabilizer. The two aircraft flew together briefly before separating. With its tail unit severed, the C-47 fell vertically. The left horizontal stabilizer of the C-47 damaged the starboard side skin of the Viscount near the passenger cabin windows, causing a section to break off; some passengers fell out through the hole. The Viscount flew a short while before nosing down and falling.
Both aircraft crashed into a residential area of Ankara, killing 87 people on the ground and seriously injuring 50 others.
Probable Cause
The Viscount aircraft had an IFR flight plan but was cruising under VFR conditions when it hit the C-47 with the lower side of the nose and starboard wing at an angle of forty degrees from the left rear and approximately five to ten degrees upward. It cut off the port side horizontal stabilizer with its starboard inner (No. 3) propeller. The Viscount pilots did not see the C-47 cruising below 7,000 feet on their right-hand side forward, and the Viscount, having a higher speed, caught up from the left rear. At the last moment, the Viscount pilots saw the C-47 and attempted to avoid the collision by pulling up, but did not succeed. The following findings were reported:
- The Viscount pilot made an estimation error of two minutes on the distance between Gölbaşı and the Ankara NDB.
- His radiocommunications did not conform to standard international conversation procedures.
- The C-47 was returning to Etimesgut Airport under VFR following an instrument training flight.
- Training flights are scheduled below 7,000 ft with the trainee-pilot behind blind flight panels and the instructor-pilot able to see outside thoroughly; flights normally last 1 hour 30 minutes, but the instructor is authorized to extend if necessary.
- The C-47 was impacted from the port side rear at 40° and from bottom to top at approximately 5 to 10°.
- The Viscount's flaps were set at 32° down, and the gear was down and locked. The collision occurred over the city of Ankara at an altitude less than 7,000 feet.