Beira - Mutare - Harare

On March 27, 2017 at 08:15 AM, Beira - Mutare - Harare experienced a crash involving Britten-Norman Islander, operated by ETA Air Charter, with the event recorded near Mutare Manicaland.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a mountains crash site.

6 people were known to be on board, 6 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 4, passenger fatalities: 4, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The twin engine aircraft was performing a charter flight from Beira to Harare with an intermediate stop in Mutare on behalf of the Mozambican company Cornelder. Ten minutes before its ETA in Mutare Airport, while descending to the altitude of 5,200 feet, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions when the aircraft hit obstacles and crashed on the slope of a mountain located in the Vumba Botanical Reserve. The wreckage was found 23 km southeast from the airport. It appears that a passenger survived but later died from his injuries. Among the passengers were Adelino Mesquita, brother of the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Mozambique.

Aircraft reference details include registration C9-AOV, MSN 624, year of manufacture 1970.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -18.9347°, 32.6280°.