TAROM - Transporturile Aeriene Române

Boeing 737-300

Around 1100LT, an airport maintenance team consisting of four people in two cars (Kia minivan) was cleared to enter runway 08R to perform maintenance work on the runway lighting system. Two of the men were working at about 600 meters from the threshold and the two other men were working at about 1500 meters from the threshold. Visibility at the time was poor due to thick fog. At 11:04 the runway was vacated by both vehicles due to landing traffic. At 11:06 they were recleared to enter the runway. At 11:25:13 flight ROT3107, a Boeing 737-300, was cleared to enter runway 08R for takeoff. The flight was cleared for takeoff at 11:26:07. Between 11:26:40 and 11:26:50 the control tower asked the maintenance workers if the runway was clear but got no reply. During the takeoff roll, at a speed of 90 knots, the aircraft collided with one of the van that was 'parked' about 600 metres from the threshold with its left engine and left main gear. The van was totally destroyed upon impact and the aircraft veered off runway to the left and came to rest 137 metres to the left of the centerline and 950 metres from the threshold. All 123 occupants evacuated safely and there were no injuries with ground maintenance personnel.

BAc 111

Flight ROT 335, a BAC 111 coming from Bucharest, was about to land on runway 26 at Stockholm/Arlanda airport. The pilots had visual contact with the field and the landing was performed according to visual flying rules (VFR). The commander, who was pilot flying (PF), has stated the following. The approach was normal with occasional turbulence and wind gusts from the south. When the aircraft was on 8 nautical miles1 final, the air-traffic controller in the tower reported the wind 160°/13 knots. To begin with the aircraft was somewhat above the glide slope but was on the glide slope when it passed the threshold. The touchdown on the runway was in the normal touchdown zone on the left main gear and nose up. Shortly thereafter came a strong wind gust whereupon the right main gear touched down and the nose gear heavily hit the runway. The commander controlled the aircraft with rudder, reversed the engines and braked lightly. He did not notice anything special in the behavior of the aircraft at that point. When - after the speed had become so low that rudder steering was no longer possible - he reverted to nose wheel steering he noticed that it was not functioning. He continued the light wheel braking but could not prevent the aircraft from veering to the right. He then braked fully but the aircraft continued towards the right runway edge. It left the runway at a speed of around 60 knots out onto the grass field. The retardation was soft and the passengers disembarked through ordinary exit. The airport rescue service was speedily on the scene but no action was necessary. The accident occurred on 7 June 1997 at 1350 hours in position 5939N 1755E; 121 feet (37 m) above sea level.

BAc 111

The approach and landing at Istanbul-Atatürk was completed in marginal weather conditions with sleet, strong winds and turbulences. The copilot was the pilot-in-command. Upon touchdown on runway 36, the aircraft landed hard and bounced. On the second impact, the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft went out of control, veered off runway to the right at a speed of 60 knots and came to rest. All 81 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The wind was gusting up to 29 knots at the time of the accident with a visibility limited to 4 km.

Airbus A310

Tarom flight 371 was a scheduled passenger service from Bucharest Otopeni Airport (OTP) in Romania to Brussel Airport (BRU), Belgium. On board were 49 passengers and eleven crew members. The first officer was pilot flying, the captain was pilot monitoring. Following de-icing, the Airbus A310 taxied to runway 08R for departure. The flight was cleared via the Strejnic 'STJ' VOR/DME beacon and an initial climb to flight level 260. Takeoff was initiated at 09:04 hours local time. When airborne, the captain announced positive climb and co-pilot requested to retract the landing gear. At 09:07:20 the captain called the Otopeni Approach controller and received a clearance to turn left and proceed direct to STJ. The co-pilot asked the captain to select direct STJ on FMS. The captain confirmed a direct STJ selection and requested the co-pilot to move the control wheel slightly. At an altitude of 1700 feet and speed a 187 knots, with flaps 15/slats 15 and pitch angle of 17.6 degrees, the aircraft was turning left, with a bank angle of 12 degrees, flying towards STJ. At 09:07:36, when the aircraft crossed 2000 feet at 188 knots, an engine thrust asymmetry started developing with continuous decrease of the left engine thrust, approximately 1 degree TRA (throttle resolver angle)/second. At 09:07:53, when the aircraft was crossing 3300 feet altitude at 195 kts turning with a decreasing bank angle of 20 degrees, the first officer called "250 in sight" and asked the captain to retract the flaps. This was carried out. At that moment, the engine thrust asymmetry reached 14.5 TRA degrees and 0.19 for EPRs. The first officer then requested slats retraction, but this action which was not carried out by the captain. At this moment the aircraft was passing through 013 degrees magnetic heading, at 3800 feet altitude and a decreasing speed of 185 kts. The aircraft pitch angle was 16,5 degrees, decreasing, and the left bank angle was 18 degrees, also decreasing. At that time the thrust asymmetry reached was 28 TRA degrees and 0.27 for EPRs. At 09:08:02, the first officer asked the captain: "Are you all right?" The aircraft was passing through 330 degrees magnetic heading, 4200 ft altitude, a decreasing speed of 181 kts, and an increasing 17 degrees left bank angle. At 09:08:08, a noise like an uttering of pain or a metallic noise was heard. The aircraft was crossing 4460 ft altitude, 179 kts speed and an increasing bank angle of 22 degrees. At that time the engines thrust asymmetry reached 0.36 for EPRs. The bank angle continued to increase to 28 degrees and the engine thrust asymmetry reached 0.41 for EPRs. At 09:08:15, the first officer, with a stressed and agitated voice, requested engagement of autopilot no. 1. The aircraft was crossing 4620-ft altitude, continuing its turn at an increasing bank angle of 43 degrees and a steadily decreasing pitch angle of 3.5 degrees. One of the pilots attempted to engage autopilot no. 1 The aircraft started a descent with 45 degrees bank angle and the engine thrust asymmetry had reached the maximum value of 0.42 for EPRs, followed by a continuous thrust reduction of engine n°2. One second later, there was recorded autopilot disengagement followed by the aural warning a level 3 "cavalry charge" lasting several moments. From that moment on, the aircraft started diving, the speed increased and the aircraft performed a complete rotation around its roll axis. At 09:08.28, first officer cried out "THAT ONE HAS FAILED!" without any other comments. The aircraft was descending through 3600 ft at 258 kts speed and an increasing nose down pitch angle at 61.5 degrees. The aircraft continued until it impacted the ground at a nose down attitude of approximately 50 degrees pitch angle with both engines at idle power. The airplane was destroyed and all 60 occupants were sustained fatal injuries.

Ilyushin II-18

The four engine aircraft departed Bucharest-Otopeni Airport at 2316LT on a cargo flight to Timisoara, carrying five crew members and four mechanics who were dispatched in Timisoara to repair another aircraft. En route, while cruising at an altitude of 6,100 metres, the crew reported his position and the ETA was fixed at 0003LT. After being cleared to descend to 2,440 metres, the crew changed his frequency and contacted Timisoara Approach. After passing over Faget, the crew was cleared to descend to 1,800 metres when radar and radio contacts were lost. The aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located in the Retezat Mountain Range, about 18 km northwest of Uricani and 130 km southeast of Timisoara Airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all nine occupants were killed.

Antonov AN-24

The aircraft departed Bucharest-Otopeni on a special flight to Belgrade to collect humanitarian supplies. While in cruising altitude, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed near Visina. All seven occupants were killed, among them the British photographer and journalist Ian Parry who was covering the Romanian Revolution.

Tupolev TU-154

The crew consisting of one instructor and four pilot under supervision were engaged in a local training mission at Bucharest-Otopeni Airport. Shortly after takeoff, while in initiale climb, the aircraft went out of control and crashed. all five occupants were killed. It is believed that the loss of control occurred while the instructor was simulating an engine failure.

Antonov AN-24

For unknown reasons, the airplane landed nose first at Cluj-Napoca Airport. The ground impact was so hard that the cockpit was destroyed and the aircraft came to rest on runway. All three crew members in the cockpit were killed while 52 other occupants were evacuated safely.

Antonov AN-24

The crew arrived at Constanta-Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport from Bucharest to complete a local training mission. On final approach, at an altitude of about 40 meters, the airplane banked left to an angle of 40° then lost height and crashed, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all seven crew members were killed.

Tupolev TU-154

On a night approach to Nouadhibou Airport, the crew encountered limited visibility. When the aircraft reached the decision height of 300 feet on final, a missed approach procedure was initiated when the captain thought he had a visual contact with the runway. He decided to continue the approach when the airplane contacted water and crashed into the sea less than one km short of runway threshold. A passenger was killed while 18 others were injured. The airplane was destroyed,

Ilyushin II-18

The crew was engaged in a local training flight at Bucharest-Otopeni Airport consisting of touch-and-go manoeuvres. Upon touchdown, the four engine airplane landed hard and bounced. It went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest. All five crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Ilyushin II-14

On final approach to Sibiu Airport, the airplane struck the ground 1,169 metres short of runway 09 and came to rest in flames. Three occupants were injured while six others were killed.

Antonov AN-24

The approach to Sibiu Airport was initiated in marginal weather conditions and strong winds. While descending at an altitude of 1,700 meters, the airplane struck the snow covered Mt Lotru located 22 km from the runway threshold. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact and all 33 occupants were killed.

Ilyushin II-18

The aircraft completed several rotations from Cairo to Jeddah and back on a pilgrim charter program on behalf of Egyptair. The four engine airplane departed Jeddah-King Abdulaziz Airport at 1905LT on a ferry flight to Cairo, carrying nine crew members, six technical crew from TAROM and three stewardesses from Egyptair. 10 minutes after takeoff, while climbing by night and good weather conditions, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the Red Sea about 20 km northwest of Djeddah. The aircraft was lost and all nine occupants were killed. Crew: Ion Mihai Vasilescu, pilot, Razvan Ionescu, copilot, Constantin Duschel, navigator, Coman Stoia, flight engineer, Justina Constantinescu, radio operator, Ion Popescu, flight officer + 3 stewardesses.

Antonov AN-24

On final approach to Bucharest-Otopeni Airport in bad weather conditions, the airplane crashed few dozen yards short of runway threshold. All 22 occupants were evacuated while the aircraft was written off.

BAc 111

In flight from Tel Aviv to Bucharest, the crew was informed about bad weather at destination and was rerouted to Constanta, about 200 km east of Bucharest. While approaching Constanta-Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport, the crew encountered poor visibility due to fog. Descending too low, the airplane struck the ground and crashed in a field located about 5 km short of runway. Eight occupants were injured while 19 others were killed.

Antonov AN-24

The crew departed Bucharest-Otopeni Airport at 1300LT bound for Oradea. While descending in poor weather conditions, the airplane struck tree tops, stalled and crashed in a snow covered hill located in the Vladeasa Mountain Range, about 73 km southeast of Oradea Airport. The wreckage was found three days later and a passenger was found alive while 20 other occupants were killed. The survivor told rescuers that at least eight other people survived the crash but later died due to extreme low temperature.

Lisunov LI-2

En route from Bra<U+0219>ov to Constanta, the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances in the Lotrioara Valley. All 24 occupants were killed, among them 2 Austrian citizens.

Ilyushin II-14

On the flight from Timisoara to Bucharest, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and a landing at Baneasa Airport was impossible. ATC rerouted the crew to Craiova Airport but again, landing was not possible there so the crew was vectored to an airport in the north of the country. En route, the airplane encountered strong downdrafts and severe turbulences, causing the fuselage to fail. The airplane disintegrated in the air and crashed about 2 km south of Cugir. The debris were found on a large area in a field and a wooded area as well, some 55 km west of Sibiu. All 32 occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, a storm was affecting most of the Romanian airspace and the flying conditions were considered as poor.

Lisunov LI-2

While descending to Bacau Airport, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Paragina located few km east of the airfield. The occupant fate remains unknown.

Ilyushin II-14

While in cruising altitude, the aircraft went into a dive and crashed in a field located between the villages of Békéssámson and Tótkomlós. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 31 occupants were killed.

Ilyushin II-18

The aircraft was performing a charter flight from Bucharest to Tel Aviv with an intermediate stop at Nicosia. En route at 7,000 meters about 70 km off the Cyprus coast, the power on engine one, two and three dropped. Shortly later, at an altitude of 3,100 meters about 45 km offshore, the engine number four also lost power. The crew elected to divert to Paphos Airport but eventually completed a wheels up landing in a field. All 87 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair. Crew: Virgil Georgescu, pilot, Nicolae Anghel,copilot, Boris Ferderber, navigator, Mircea Trandafir, mechanic, Emilian Rotaru, radio operator, Viorica Hutanu, stewardess, Elena Frâncu, stewardess, Elisabeta Crâsmaru, stewardess.

Lisunov LI-2

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Mironeasa. The airplane was damaged beyond repair but there were no injuries.