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Carpatair Flight 128

26 Feb 2009 · Timișoara International Airport

Saab 2000 · The aviation incident occurred on 28 February 2009 at 09:44 (GMT+2)

From Chişinău International Airport (RMO) to Timișoara Traian Vuia International Airport (TSR)

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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
Occurrence
Event fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
51
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
0
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

Saab 2000

Aircraft type
Saab 2000
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
Unknown
Operator
Carpatair
Onboard fatalities
0
Route
From Chişinău International Airport (RMO)To Timișoara Traian Vuia International Airport (TSR)

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

The aviation incident occurred on 28 February 2009 at 09:44 (GMT+2). A Saab 2000 aircraft belonging to the company Carpatair made an emergency landing at the airport in Timișoara, because the nose wheel of the landing gear did not extend.

The incident resulted in no casualties, all 47 passengers and 4 crew members escaping alive.

Carpatair Flight 128 was operating on the route Chișinău, Moldova - Timișoara, Romania and, according to the flight schedule, it was due to land at 08:05. The aircraft circled over the city of Timișoara for more than an hour, passing twice in front of the control tower, with the traffic controllers confirming that the aircraft did not have its nose landing gear lowered. After burning off the fuel, the aircraft landed on the airport runway at 09:44, on a carpet of foam, to reduce the risk of a fire. Airport operations resumed around 12:00 (GMT+2).

Following the successful landing, the pilots Leonid Babivschi (47 years old) and Iurie Oleacov (37 years old) were decorated by Vladimir Voronin with the Order of Honour.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Romanian Wikipedia article “Zborul 128 al Carpatair” (revision 17690428, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

Romanian Wikipedia article: Zborul 128 al Carpatair
Article
Zborul 128 al Carpatair
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
17690428 · 2026-04-29 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q4355704
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
ro Wikipedia article "Zborul 128 al Carpatair" (page 442632, revision 17690428), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
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 article lead
Source notes (2)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Romanian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.
  • The Romanian article contradicts itself on the date: its text gives 28 February 2009 (as does Wikidata), its infobox (used here) 26 February 2009.