2012 Aéro-Service Ilyushin Il-76 crash

Air Highnesses

Industry	Air freight / Cargo airline
Headquarters	Armenia
Area served	Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville, Pointe Noire)
Products	Cargo transport

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

On 30 November 2012, an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft, operated by the Armenian freight carrier Air Highnesses for Congolese cargo airline Aéro-Service, crashed while landing at Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, resulting in the deaths of all six people on board and 26 individuals on the ground.

The flight was domestic, originating from Pointe Noire Airport and destined for Maya-Maya Airport. During its approach to runway 5L amid heavy rainfall, the plane struck tall trees approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft; 1,100 yd) before reaching the runway threshold. The wreckage extended over a distance of about 500 metres (1,600 ft; 550 yd). The aircraft caught fire and was completely destroyed, causing fatalities among the five Armenian crew members and one Armenian police officer aboard, as well as 26 local civilians. Additionally, 14 people sustained injuries.

Investigation

In February 2013, the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) took possession of both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder for examination on behalf of Congo’s Ministry of Transport and commenced efforts to extract and analyze the recorded information.