Si-Fly flight 3275

Si-Fly flight 3275
	An ATR 42-300, similar to the aircraft involved in an accident
Accident summary
Accident type	Controlled flight into terrain
place	near Slakovce, north of Pristina , Kosovo
date	November 12, 1999
Fatalities	24
Survivors	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	ATR 42-300
operator	Si Fly for UN
Mark	F-OHFV
Departure airport	Rome Fiumicino Airport , Italy;
Destination airport	Pristina Airport , Kosovo;
Passengers	21st
crew	3
	Lists of aviation accidents

On the Si Fly Flight 3275 , a VIP charter flight, which the French airline Si Fly for the World Food Program of the United Nations was performed and Rome to Pristina should lead, crashed on 12 November 1999 an ATR 42-300 with a Controlled flight into terrain . All 24 people on board the machine died in the accident. It is the worst aircraft accident in the history of Kosovo .

machine

The aircraft concerned was an ATR 42-300, a model of the Italian-French consortium Avions de Transport Régional (ATR) founded by Aeritalia and Aérospatiale for the construction of regional aircraft . The machine was 13 years and seven months old at the time of the accident. It had the model serial number 012, was finally assembled at the ATR production site in Toulouse and completed its maiden flight on April 14, 1986 with the test registration number F-WWED . The machine was delivered on April 29, 1986 to Simmons Airlines , which operated flights under the American Eagle brand . The machine carried the aircraft registration N420MQ ; on December 2, 1995 this was changed to N12MQ . With the dissolution of Simmons Airlines, the machine went into the American Eagle fleet on May 1, 1998 and was returned to the manufacturer on October 22, 1998, who approved the machine with the registration number F-WQJB . On 15 July 1999, the machine was then transferred to the Si Fly, taking their last marks F-OHFV received The twin-engine regional transport aircraft was equipped with two turboprop engines of the type Pratt & Whitney Canada PW121 equipped. Up to the accident, the machine had completed 24,930 operating hours, which accounted for 32,810 take-offs and landings.

crew

There was a three-person crew on board the machine, consisting of a flight captain, a first officer and a flight attendant:

The 59-year-old flight captain was an Italian citizen. He was a member of the Italian Air Force until 1970 , where he had flown North American T-6 , Aermacchi MB-326 , Fairchild C-119 , Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor , Piaggio P.166 and Martin XB-48 . He acquired his commercial pilot's license on July 10, 1971. He worked from March 1, 1970 to December 31, 1986 for the Aero Trasporti Italiani , where he was initially employed as the first officer in the cockpit of the Douglas DC-9 , before moving in July 1985 was trained to captain this type of aircraft. From April 1, 1986 to June 1, 1990 he was employed by the Unifly Express , where he was used as the first officer of the Fokker F-27 . From June 1, 1990 to November 29, 1990 and with one interruption again from May 8, 1991 to May 31, 1991, he flew Fokker F-27 aircraft with the Miniliner in the rank of captain. From June 2, 1992 to September 30, 1993 he was employed as a flight captain in aircraft of the type Douglas DC-9 at Eurofly , from July 2, 1993 to November 30, 1993 he flew for TEA Italia . With Air Sicilia he was flight captain of the ATR 42 from August 1, 1995 to August 11, 1997, and then with Italair from August 24, 1997 to August 16, 1999, he was also the captain of the ATR 42. He took off from Si Fly September 1, 1999 as the master of the ATR 42 and was also employed as a test master. In addition to the ATR 42, he was in possession of type ratings for the aircraft types Fokker F-27, McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 . He had acquired the type rating for the ATR 42 in July 1995. The captain had 18,000 hours of flight experience, 5,000 of which he had in ATR 42 aircraft. Since October 17, 1999, he had made 18 flights to Pristina.
The 49-year-old first officer was also an Italian citizen. He had obtained his commercial pilot license in 1985. Until 1997 he was an airplane and helicopter pilot in the Italian Air Force, where he flew Aermacchi MB-326, Piaggio P.166, Piaggio P.148 , Shorts 330 , AgustaWestland AW109 , Bell 47 , Bell 204 , Piaggio PD machines . 808 and Dassault Falcon 50 . In addition to the ATR 42, he had a type rating for the Dassault Falcon 50. From 1998 to September 1999 he flew for Italair , and from October 19, 1999 he was employed by Si Fly. Of his 5,000 hours of flight experience, he had completed 2,100 in helicopters and 1,500 in ATR 42 machines. Since October 20, he had made 13 flights to Pristina.

The 25-year-old flight attendant has worked for SiFly since September 1st, 1999. She was also an Italian citizen.

Passengers

Most of the passengers were employees of the UN World Food Program who were involved in the reconstruction of the country after the war in Kosovo . There were also journalists, diplomats and aid workers on board. In addition to the crew, six passengers were Italian citizens, including two doctors, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, a chemist, a police officer and an employee of an aid organization. A Canadian UN official was on board, as were three British people, two of whom were to fly to Kosovo on behalf of the aid organization The Tearfund to join a 15-person task force to help ethnic Albanians rebuild their homes.

the accident

Scene of the accident

Mitrovica

Pristina airport

Skopje airport

Albania

North
Macedonia

The scene of the accident on a map of Kosovo

The plane took off at 08:11 UTC in Rome to the flight. At 09:57 UTC, the flight was transferred from air traffic control in Skopje to military air traffic control in Pristina. At 09:59 UTC, the Pristina military air traffic controller requested the crew to lower the aircraft to 5,200 feet. At 10:03 UTC he gave the order to descend to 4,600 feet, whereupon the machine disappeared from the radar screen eleven minutes later and hit a mountain north of Pristina near Sllakoc ( Serbian Слаковце Slakovce , municipality of Vushtrria ). All 24 occupants on board were killed.

Search and rescue operation

After the machine disappeared from the flight radar, NATO immediately put together a search and rescue team on site. Helicopters supported the search for the machine from the air and 500 soldiers took part in the operation on the ground. The machine was officially reported missing. The search and rescue team searched for the machine the entire night using thermal imaging and night vision devices. The mission was hindered by difficult weather conditions and the mountainous and mined terrain in the area. The wreckage of the plane was found on November 14, 1999 on a steep mountain slope about 18 kilometers from the town of Mitrovica . There were no survivors under the rubble. First responders said several charred bodies were found in the rubble field. Only the rear of the machine was still visible. Dozens of NATO troops cordoned off the crash site.

Accident investigation

Since the machine was registered and built in France, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile (BEA) took part in the accident investigation. Investigators inspected the wreckage of the aircraft and both flight recorders , which were in good condition. The analysis from the scene of the accident revealed that the machine had first grazed the treetops before crashing into the mountain. The first impact occurred 15 meters below the top of a mountain ridge in a rocky low mountain range. During the impact, the fuselage and wings broke apart, the fuel ignited, and an explosion occurred.

The analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder showed that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) had not issued any warning before the collision. When the machine was delivered from ATR to Si Fly, the machine was equipped with a GPWS, the function of which had been checked as part of the control flight, which was carried out by a mixed Aérospatiale / Si Fly crew. It was found that the device gave false alarms on normal landings, whereupon the GPWS computer was replaced. In September, Si Fly again ordered a new GPWS computer from ATR after the company said the old device was faulty. Si Fly informed ATR that despite replacing the computer, the GPWS was still not working properly and still giving error messages. SI Fly suspected that the fault was due to the radio altimeter and ordered a new one, which was delivered on October 8, 1999. A simulation of the flight involved in the accident revealed that an approaching ground warning should have sounded 30 seconds before the impact, but this did not happen. From this, the investigators concluded that the machine was being flown with a defective or switched off GPWS, which the pilots, who had flown the same route numerous times, must have been aware of.

In the further course of the investigation, the investigators found that the flight preparation in Rome had been carried out hastily and incompletely by the pilots, which indicated a lack of professional discipline. During the approach briefing, the copilot did not call any safety heights. The captain asked no questions. The large number of flights pilots had made to Pristina in the past seemed to have given them a sense of routine. They knew that, as usual, they could expect the air traffic controller to assist them during the approach. The pilots may have relied so much on this support, which could only provide a limited service, that they believed that air traffic control would guide them around all obstacles in their way. The crew also prepared an ILS approach without a glide path, a procedure that was not approved by the airline.

Individual evidence

42.966667 5.21Coordinates: 42 ° 58 ′ 0 ″ N , 21 ° 3 ′ 0 ″ E