Arusha – Seronera

On November 27, 2004 at 04:18 PM, Arusha – Seronera experienced a crash involving Cessna 406 Caravan, operated by Regional Air Services, with the event recorded near Arusha Arusha Region.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 7 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 6, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was taking off for a scheduled flight from Arusha to Seronera. At 12:15 hours the aircraft taxied from the apron to the threshold of runway 27 at which point take off for Seronera was initiated. The controller, who was handling the flight, said that the initial segment of the take off roll was normal. When the aircraft had covered about 500 metres he saw the left main landing gear collapsing and the aircraft swinging to the left of the runway. It continued to run on its belly pod on a grass hedge parallel to runway 27 and came to rest at the eastern edge of the apron. There was no fire and all the occupants deplaned without injuries. The aircraft sustained damage to propellers, the right wing, the fuselage and underside structure. The cargo pod in the belly was completely destroyed and its debris was scattered along the wreckage trail.

Aircraft reference details include registration 5H-RAS, MSN 406-0005, year of manufacture 1986.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -2.8901°, 36.5364°.