Incident Overview
On the night of 11 June 1999, RAF Hercules XV298 was tasked with collecting personnel and equipment from Kukes airstrip in Albania. The aircraft flew from Italy and landed on the unlit airstrip using Night Vision Goggle (NVG) procedures. The crew had been briefed that there would be sufficient runway remaining from the pickup point to the end of the airstrip. However, artificial lighting in the near distance interfered with the crew's night vision goggles, preventing them from seeing the end of the airstrip.
Loading and Takeoff
After loading personnel and equipment, the aircraft began its takeoff run along the remaining available runway. It soon hit a fence and several other ground obstacles. The aircraft slowed, then veered to the right, suffering severe damage to its right wing before coming to a stop.
Post-Accident Fire
Fuel leaking from the damaged wing ignited, and the subsequent fire destroyed much of the aircraft.
Official Findings
The Board of Inquiry concluded that the take-off distance was insufficient for the aircraft to get airborne safely. Aircraft performance or serviceability were quickly discounted as factors. The accident was partly due to anomalies in the operating instructions for tactical landing zone operations, which were contained in three separate documents: one used by the aircrew, one for personnel training, and the other used by the airstrip marking party. Consequently, each party had different expectations as to the procedure to be followed, leading to airstrip markings being laid out differently from what had been briefed to the aircrew. Additionally, the airstrip data used to plan the sortie was significantly different from the actual airstrip dimensions. The Board also concluded that reduced night vision goggle performance contributed to the accident.