What happened
While traveling toward Khartoum, the flight encountered a technical malfunction involving the number one engine. After notifying air traffic control of the situation and their current position, the pilot decided to divert back to Cairo-Almaza Airport. During the approach, it became necessary to shut down the malfunctioning engine and feather the propeller. The aircraft subsequently performed a belly landing on runway 36 at Almaza Airport.
Despite the impact, all 38 occupants were evacuated from the aircraft without injury. While there were no casualties, the aircraft sustained damage that rendered it a total loss.
Findings
Investigations into the incident could not definitively identify the specific reason for the failure of the first engine. However, several operational issues were noted regarding the pilot's management of the emergency. It was observed that the fire warning and automatic extinguisher systems did not activate, suggesting that temperatures within the nacelle had not increased significantly; notably, the extinguisher was used manually.
Furthermore, the investigation highlighted concerns regarding the crew's handling of the malfunction, specifically noting that the defective engine should not have been restarted following a fire while carrying a heavy load. Additionally, it was determined that if the primary landing gear systems had failed to deploy, the pilot failed to utilize the secondary and tertiary emergency deployment procedures.