B744, vicinity Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, 2017

B744, vicinity Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, 2017

Summary

On 16 January 2017, a Boeing 747-400F failed to successfully complete a night auto-ILS Cat 2 approach at Bishkek and the aircraft crashed and caught fire killing its occupants and 35 people on the ground and seriously injuring 36 others. The Investigation found that the flight crew had comprehensively failed to monitor the achieved approach flight path and, after capturing and flying down the false upper ILS GS lobe, had then failed to promptly initiate a go around at the applicable decision altitude. The fact that an automatic ILS approach could continue even on a false glideslope was noted.

Description

On 16 January 2017, a Boeing 747-400F (TC-MCL) being operated for Turkish Airlines by ACT Airlines as TK 9491, an international cargo flight from Hong Kong to Istanbul Ataturk via a planned transit stop at Bishkek, failed to land off a night ILS Cat 2 approach at Bishkek conducted in IMC and crashed and caught fire just beyond the end of the intended landing runway. The aircraft was completely destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and its four occupants were killed along with 35 local residents with 36 others on the ground seriously injured.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Air Accident Investigation Commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK). Both the DFDR and the CVR were recovered from the wreckage and their data were successfully downloaded. Most of the recorded exchanges between the pilots on the flight deck were in Turkish.

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