What happened
On December 25, 2012, an Air Bagan Ltd Fokker 100, registered XY-AGC, was operating a scheduled flight from Mandalay to Heho. The flight was carrying 65 passengers and 6 crew members. After departing Mandalay at 08:26 local time, the aircraft climbed to 13,000 feet and maintained a cruise speed of 250 knots. Upon reaching 50 nautical miles from Heho, the pilot contacted air traffic control, receiving weather updates that noted calm winds and visibility of 3,000 meters due to fog.
During the descent phase, the crew began a non-precision approach toward runway 36 using the NDB. As the aircraft descended through 6,000 feet while tracking a heading of 220 degrees, the terrain proximity warning system (EGPWS) issued a series of alerts. At approximately 08:53, the pilot attempted to maintain altitude via an altitude hold command; however, the aircraft struck several obstacles, including power lines, trees, and telephone cables, before impacting the ground roughly 0.7 nautical miles from the runway threshold. The impact caused the wings to separate and triggered a significant post-crash fire. While 70 people on board and one person on the ground survived, one fatality occurred on the aircraft, and one motorcyclist on the ground was also killed. The aircraft was destroyed by the subsequent fire.
Findings
During the final approach, the EGPWS provided multiple altitude warnings (500, 100, 50, 40, and 30 feet) prior to the collision. The aircraft's descent into terrain and obstacles was the primary factor in the accident.