Accident Overview
At 0533 hours on 23 March 2005, an Ilyushin IL-76 cargo jet with Republic of Moldova registration ER-IBR landed at Mwanza, Tanzania, on a flight from Benghazi, Libya. The aircraft was carrying a crew of 8, including 2 ground engineers. All 8 crew members were later involved in the accident. While at Mwanza, approximately 50,000 kg of fish was loaded onto the aircraft.
Flight Details
At 1930 hours, the commander filed a flight plan for Khartoum, with an endurance of 0450 hours. The cargo manifest showed that ER-IBR was operating Air Trans Inc. Flight RIN 982 from Mwanza to Osijek, Croatia, with refueling stops at Khartoum and Benghazi. At 2000 hours, the aircraft was given takeoff information and departure clearance. ER-IBR subsequently advised that it was starting the takeoff roll. This was the last communication received from the aircraft.
Takeoff and Disappearance
The aircraft was observed to execute a normal takeoff roll from runway 30, which ends 120 meters short of Lake Victoria. After observing that the aircraft was airborne, the controller handling the flight turned to complete the flight progress strip. Upon doing so, he lost visual contact with the aircraft, which was supposed to be in a climb profile over the lake. Efforts to raise the aircraft on the radio failed. About two minutes after the aircraft became airborne, the controller saw a fire tender speeding along runway 30, at which point he realized the flight may have crashed.
Rescue and Recovery
The Mwanza Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Services were not equipped for operations in the lake and were unable to reach the aircraft, which was more than 1 km from the shore. Fishermen at the lake shore near the airport, who had seen the aircraft going down in the lake, proceeded to the crash site in fishing boats and recovered some documents, including flight manuals and wiring diagrams, found floating near the wreckage.
Probable Cause
The accident was caused by the aircraft colliding with the water surface shortly after takeoff. While the aircraft had gathered sufficient energy to sustain climb, the crew failed to monitor altitude and react correctly in the short time that the aircraft was airborne. This resulted in the aircraft going into descent until it reached an altitude where recovery was not possible. The possibility of crew fatigue as a contributory factor in this accident cannot be ruled out.