Cargo Flight from Cairo to Beirut Crashes After Icing and Turbulence (SU-AJG)

Flight Details and Weather Conditions The aircraft was scheduled to perform a non-scheduled international cargo flight from Cairo to Beirut. Before departure, the operator's chief of the ground operations shift informed the pilot-in-command that bad weather was prevailing both on the route and at Beirut Airport. This information was confirmed by the crew of another aircraft that had arrived from Beirut at 0200 hours local time. The pilot-in-command then visited the weather office and was informed that the en-route weather was very bad, with low and medium altitude clouds, including cumulonimbus extending from 550 m to 8,500 m. Moderate to severe icing and turbulence within these clouds were highly probable. A SIGMET had been issued at 0115 hours. The pilot obtained copies of two SIGMETS issued by Cairo and Beirut and decided to delay departure until 0700 hours, expecting weather improvement. Despite the aircraft having no de-icing equipment, it departed Cairo at 0721 hours.