What happened
Following a delayed flight from Abidjan intended for Nice via Tamanrasset, the pilot altered the flight plan due to the lack of nighttime markings at the scheduled stop. To avoid an overnight stay, the crew decided to depart Gao in the early morning hours. During preparations at the meteorological office, the pilot expressed significant concerns to air traffic control regarding his level of fatigue and the difficulty of navigating a manually controlled aircraft without an autopilot while also performing navigation duties.
The flight departed Gao at 03:07LT carrying three crew members and eighteen passengers. While the initial takeoff appeared routine, the aircraft reached an altitude of approximately 10 meters before the navigation lights began to fade into a depression located past the runway. Shortly after the lights disappeared, a fire was observed. The aircraft, which was destroyed upon impact, struck the ground and its wreckage was located roughly two kilometers east of the airfield. The accident resulted in 17 fatalities (comprising three crew and fourteen passengers) and 4 injuries among the passengers.
Findings
The investigation determined that the crash was caused by an unexpected loss of altitude during a nighttime takeoff, where no visual references were available beyond the runway lights. While the exact reason for the loss of altitude control remained uncertain, investigators noted that the pilot's extreme fatigue or a potential cockpit distraction may have contributed to the incident.