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2 fatalities

Aircraft Crash Near Kärdla Airport During Approach (ES-NOV)

Kärdla, EstoniaLanding (descent or approach)

On November 23, 2001, a PZL-Mielec AN-28 (registration ES-NOV) operated by Enimex was involved in an aviation accident near Kärdla, Estonia during landing or approach. 2 people were killed. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The accident was the consequence of an incorrect assessment of the situation by the commander of the aircraft during the approach, which resulted in errors in the piloting techniques, including transition from intense icing conditions to active descent with a… This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A).

Sourcesthe Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A)Primary reportUpdated 2026-06-11Data APIEditorial standards
Aircraft registered ES-NOV
Aircraft registered ES-NOV. Photo: Pertti Sipilä / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An aircraft crashed into trees 1,500 m short of the runway at Kärdla Airport while on approach from Tallinn, killing two passengers and injuring 15 others.

Incident Overview and Weather Conditions During the approach from Tallinn to Kärdla, the crew received the final weather bulletin for Kärdla Airport at an altitude of 6,000 feet. The reported conditions included a wind from 020° at 24 knots, visibility of 8,000 metres, snow, an overcast layer at 1,200 feet, broken clouds at 600 feet, a temperature of 0°, a dewpoint of 0°, a QNH of 1001, good braking action, and runway 32 in use. One minute later, the crew was cleared to descend to 1,400 feet and reported reaching that altitude at a distance of 11 km from the airport. The aircraft then continued on a heading of 240° toward the OZ NDB beacon, which served as the Final Approach Fix (FAF) located about 4 km from the runway threshold. The crew continued the descent and began a slow turn toward the runway approximately 2.5 km short of the FAF. The aircraft descended into trees about 1,500 metres short of the runway threshold and crashed in a wooded area. Two passengers were killed, and 15 other occupants were injured, some seriously. The aircraft was totally destroyed.

Probable cause

The accident was the consequence of an incorrect assessment of the situation by the commander of the aircraft during the approach, which resulted in errors in the piloting techniques, including transition from intense icing conditions to active descent with a transition from the originally planned instrument approach to a visual approach; failure to take into account the possibility of complex meteorological conditions in preparation for the approach and during the approach, with the crew not considering the possibility of going around or returning to the point of departure; and maintaining an unjustified low airspeed and high vertical descent speed during an approach with poor altitude control. Associated factors included difficult weather conditions due to severe icing conditions; reassessment by the aircraft commander of his knowledge and experience in controlling the An-28 aircraft in adverse weather conditions; failure to comply with the requirements of the Airplane Flight Manual of the An-28 aircraft for the operation of aircraft systems and crew resource management; failure to comply with the Airplane Flight Manual in terms of timely termination of the approach and transition to climb; the copilot, taking into account the large flying experience of the aircraft commander and overestimating his flight and navigation skills, behaved passively and did not provide him with adequate assistance in difficult conditions during the approach; transition from an instrument approach to a visual approach without ATC clearance; and the lack of visual assessment of the angle of the descent trajectory (PAPI system) on the runway.
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