Avis Amur AN12 near Magadan on Aug 9th 2011, engine fire
Last Update: April 25, 2012 / 15:39:57 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Aug 9, 2011
Cause
Engine fire
Aircraft Type
Antonov An-12
ICAO Type Designator
AN12
following the inflight shut down of engine #1 (outboard left hand) and feathering of the #1 propeller the longitudinal (roll) control of the aircraft was lost due to load-bearing properties of the left wing and possible damage to the left hand aileron control wiring resulting in the aircraft's uncontrolled excessive roll to the left and subsequent impact with terrain.
The fire started in the tail section of the #1 engine nacelle and spread forward and onto the wing.
The fire was most likely fed by fuel leaking from a fuel line connection to the low pressure fuel pump at engine #1, the fuel most likely ignited due to contact with hot engine parts. Due to the disintegration of the aircraft and fire damage it was not possible to establish the location of fuel leaks and the cause with certainty.
The inability of the fire suppression system to extinguish such a fire in its early stages as well as the lack of checklists/guidelines in the aircraft's flight manual for fuel leaks inside the engine nacelle contributed to the delay of more than 2 minutes to shut the engine down.
The mountaineous terrain underneath the aircraft, low level overcast cloud and lack of time due to continued fire did not permit the crew to select a proper site for an emergency landing.
The aircraft departed Magadan with a fuel load of 8500kg/18700lbs and a takeoff weight of 61970kg/136500lbs (maximum takeoff weight 64000kg/140970lbs), the center of gravity was at 24.5% MAC all within limits.
The aircraft was enroute about 40 minutes into the flight at 7500 meters/FL246 when the crew requested and was approved to climb to 8100 meters/FL266. While climbing, about 3 minutes later, the crew requested a descent to 6600 meters/FL216, 50 seconds later they reported a fuel leak in engine #4 (the MAK annotated, in fact erroneously as they had shut down engine #1) and requested vectors back to Magadan. Another 80 seconds later the crew confirmed the engine had been feathered and were setting course to Magadan. The crew subsequently reported they had fuel for about 3 hours, requested emergency services to stand by at Magadan, advised they had a sustained engine fire and requested an emergency descent. The crew acknowledged to descend to 3000 meters/FL098, which proved to be their last transmission.
Search aircraft were unable to locate an ELT signal, although spurious ELT signal transmissions were picked up and were checked. A search helicopter finally located the wreckage about 27 hours after radio contact was lost at position N61.9927 E154.5366. The aircraft had impacted the slope of a mountain and had been destroyed by impact forces and fire, there were no survivors. The MAK stated: "As a result of the collision with a mountain slope and the subsequent explosion due to detonation of aviation fuel in the tanks, the aircraft was completely destroyed. On land there have been short-term local pockets of fire."
The crew comprised the captain (53, ATPL, 15,297 hours total, 6,263 hours on type) and a check captain (56, ATPL, 16,456 hours total, 8,272 hours as instructor on type), a first officer (34, ATPL, 3,939 hours total, 3,838 hours on type) and a flight engineer (54, 15,120 hours total, 4,813 hours on type).
Laboratory examination of the badly damaged remains of the cockpit voice recorder showed that the main tape was missing and the fragments present belonged to the backup/spare system leaving the investigation without onboard sound recordings.
The flight data recorder was also found badly damaged with one tape missing, in this case the backup tape was missing, the damaged tape proved the main tape that became readable after restoration work.
Autopsies of the bodies of occupants concluded that all occupants died instantly upon impact of the aircraft with the ground as result of impact forces causing deformation and damage to all organs of the bodies.
The MAK reported the work had been conducted on the fuel tanks in February 2011 as well as replacement of fuel hoses at both wings and fuselage.
The MAK analysed that the decision by the crew to return to Magadan was reasonable, although there was an aerodrome at Omsukchan about 45nm from their position. The aerodrome of Omsukchan was not suitable for the AN-12 however. Due to loss of controllability as result of fire damage to control rods the aircraft was unable to sustain flight despite attempts by the crew to retain control of the aircraft.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Aug 9, 2011
Cause
Engine fire
Aircraft Type
Antonov An-12
ICAO Type Designator
AN12
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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