1970 Somali Airlines accident

The 1970 Somali Airlines accident occurred on 6 May 1970 with a Vickers 785D Viscount that was used by Somali Airlines in scheduled service. On landing at Mogadishu Airport the pilots had to make a crash landing with the aircraft, as the aircraft was no longer controllable because of a spreading fire. Of the 30 people on board, five passengers were killed in the accident.

Accident sequence

While the aircraft was on final approach to Mogadishu Airport, several passengers noticed that a fire was spreading under the cabin floor. The pilots were not aware of the fire when, two kilometres before the runway, they noticed difficulties with the controllability of the elevators. The aircraft nevertheless followed the correct course for landing, and by applying thrust the pilots managed to raise the slightly downward-pointing nose of the aircraft again. At a speed of 130 knots the aircraft made a hard landing exactly on the threshold and centreline of runway 24. The nose landing gear was sheared off and collapsed backwards. The aircraft rolled on for another 900 metres on its main landing gear while the nose of the aircraft scraped along the runway. The Viscount then came to a stop and the fire that had started spread rapidly. It destroyed a large part of the airframe, as the fire brigade, which rushed to the scene within minutes, could no longer bring the fire under control. Most of the occupants were able to leave the aircraft in time, but five children were killed. The surviving passengers and members of the cabin crew suffered burns of varying degrees.