2018 Pretoria Convair 340 crash

2018 Pretoria Convair 340 crash

ZS-BRV, the aircraft involved, in its previous Rovos Air livery.
Accident
Date	10 July 2018 (2018-07-10)
Summary	Engine failure, under investigation
Site	Near Wonderboom Airport, Pretoria South Africa
Total fatalities	2
Total injuries	multiple
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Convair 340
Registration	ZS-BRV
Flight origin	Wonderboom Airport
Destination	Wonderboom Airport
Occupants	19
Passengers	16
Crew	3
Fatalities	1
Survivors	18
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	1
Ground injuries	2

On 10 July 2018, a Convair 340 owned by Dutch aviation museum Aviodrome crashed during a trial flight in Pretoria, South Africa. The aircraft suffered an engine failure moments after takeoff^[1] and crashed into a factory building as the crew attempted to return it to the airport.^[2]

Aircraft

The aircraft, a Convair 340 registered ZS-BRV, was originally delivered to the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1954 as a C-131D.^[3] It was retired from USAF service in 1987 and was stored for five years before its conversion for civilian use and operation by several companies, eventually being acquired by Rovos Air (the aviation division of South African rail operator Rovos Rail), which began using the aircraft for luxury safari trips in South Africa in 2001.^[3][4] The aircraft was retired in 2009 and sat unused until May 2018, when Rovos Air donated it to Dutch aviation museum Aviodrome.^[5] The museum had the aircraft restored and painted in the colours of Martin's Air Charter, a Dutch air charter company that operated Convairs in the 1950s (still operating in 2018, as cargo airline Martinair); and plans were made to fly the aircraft to the Netherlands through eastern Africa and central Europe, departing on July 12.^[5]

Accident

The aircraft was operating a test flight in preparation for its delivery flight. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft's left engine began trailing brown smoke.^[3] Footage taken from inside the aircraft shows the engine began to vibrate and fire trailed from its exhaust.^[1] The pilots immediately initiated a return to Wonderboom Airport, but were unable to complete the manoeuvre and the aircraft crashed into a factory approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) from the airport at about 4:30 pm local time.^[2] The flight engineer was killed in the crash, as was one person on the ground.^[2]

Passengers and crew

The aircraft was carrying 16 passengers and had a crew of three: two pilots and a flight engineer.

The two pilots were Australian; the captain was a Qantas pilot and a check-and-training captain for the airline's fleet of Airbus A380s; the co-pilot was a retired former Qantas Airbus A380 captain.^[6] Both men were members of Australia's Historical Aviation Restoration Society (HARS) and had previously flown another former Rovos Air Convair aircraft to HARS' home base at Illawarra Regional Airport south of Sydney in 2016; and each had over 30 years' flying experience in various aircraft types.^[7] The flight engineer was South African and was killed in the accident.^[2]

Investigation

The Accident and Incident Investigations Department of the South African Civil Aviation Authority began an investigation, and pledged to have an initial report within 30 days of the crash.^[6]

References