Gabon Express Flight 221
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 · Hydraulic failure due to engine failure
From Libreville Leon M'ba International Airport (LBV) to M'Vengue El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba International Airport (MVB)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 19 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 30
- Survivors
- 11
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 11
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Hawker Siddeley HS 748
- Aircraft type
- Hawker Siddeley HS-748
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- TR-LFW
- Operator
- Gabon Express
- Onboard fatalities
- 19
- Route
- From Libreville Leon M'ba International Airport (LBV)To M'Vengue El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba International Airport (MVB)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Gabon Express Flight 221 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which ditched 100 metres offshore into the Gulf of Guinea on 8 June 2004. The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was carrying 26 passengers and 4 crew and was flying from Gabon's capital Libreville to Franceville via Port-Gentil when an engine failed. The crew returned to Libreville International Airport; however they overflew it and landed in the sea, within metres of a beach. At least 19 people were killed as a result of the crash. It was the second deadliest plane crash in Gabon. Gabon President Omar Bongo declared three days of national mourning in response to the disaster.
Accident
On 8 June 2004, shortly after take-off from Libreville International Airport, the right-hand engine failed. The crew returned to Libreville but had problems lowering the undercarriage. At 09:34, uncertain on whether the landing gear was extended, the pilot ditched the aircraft offshore, around 3 km away from the airport, a few dozens of metres away from the beach of La Sablière.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
By 29 July, according to the investigation's preliminary findings, the hydraulic pump on the left engine experienced problems, preventing the failure of the right engine from being compensated. In addition, documents relating to the aircraft's maintenance operations were only correctly maintained until 9 April 2004. An investigation later revealed that the crash was caused by the government's poor aircraft maintenance standards.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Gabon Express Flight 221” (revision 1345991677, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Gabon Express Flight 221
- Article
- Gabon Express Flight 221
- Revision
- 1345991677 · 2026-03-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q28450531
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Gabon Express Flight 221" (page 52870946, revision 1345991677)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.