Description

On 10 February 2004, a Fokker F27 operated by Kish Airlines, crashed on approach to Sharjah, UAE, as a result of loss of control caused by selection of both propellers to the ground range in flight.

Synopsis

This is an extract from the Aircraft Accident Report published by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority:

"The aircraft involved was a Fokker F27 Mk.050, owned by the Kish Airlines, based at Ekbatan in the Islamic Republic of Iran… On this particular flight, IRK 7170, EP-LCA, was operating a scheduled passenger flight from Kish Island to Sharjah, UAE, and was approaching to land on runway 12 at Sharjah International Airport in good daylight visibility. The aircraft was observed to pitch down and suddenly turn to the left. The aircraft continued to descend and turn at high pitch and roll angles and impacted a sandy area within a residential area 2.6 nm from the runway threshold. Immediately a large explosion was seen. The aircraft was destroyed and there were 43 fatalities.

Cause

The report gives the cause of the accident as:

"The power levers were moved by a pilot from the flight idle position into the ground control range, which led to an irreversible loss of flight control."

and gives the following Contributory Causes: