Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kabul
Thursday, February 3, 2005
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On February 3, 2005, at about 1050 UTC, Kam Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-242, registered in Kyrgyzstan as EX-037, was reported missing during a flight from Herat to Kabul, Afghanistan, during conditions of extremely low visibility in the area surrounding Kabul International Airport. It was subsequently located on the top of Chaperi Ghar, an 11,000-foot mountain about 20 miles east southeast of the airport, two days after its disappearance. None of the 104 people on board survived. Kam Air is a company in Kyrgyzstan serving Afghanistan air travel, and the airplane was registered in Kyrgyzstan. It was operated by Phoenix Aviation, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and there were citizens from Afghanistan, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Iran, and the United States on board. Some of the victims were associated with various humanitarian aid missions helping to rebuild Afghanistan.
The accident flight crew consisted of a captain, first officer, an engineer, and three cabin attendants. According to the operators records the flight crew had been on duty at the time of the accident for 7 hours. According to air traffic control interviews, the flight was uneventful until the aircraft disappeared from radar and communications were lost. The flight crew did not report any failures, malfunctions, or concerns to either the Bagram Approach controller or the Kabul tower controller.
The Safety Board investigation team sent to Afghanistan consisted of a US Accredited Representative and investigators in the specialties of flightcrew operations, aircraft systems and aircraft structures. Other governments represented were Italy, Turkey, and Kyrgyzstan. Representatives of Kam Air and Phoenix Aviation, also participated.
The aircraft struck a ridgeline on an easterly heading near the crest of the mountain about 50 feet down from the very top. The most prominent and recognizable piece of wreckage present was the vertical stabilizer and a small portion of the rear fuselage.
Within a 200 foot circle, investigators identified portions of both engines, both wings, the left main landing gear assembly, many aft galley components, the horizontal stabilizer, personal effects, and much miscellaneous debris.
The flight data recorder was found almost immediately, although the cockpit voice recorder has not been located. The FDR eventually yielded no useful data.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Afghanistan. Further information may be obtained from:
Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism
Civil Aviation Operations
Ansari Watt
P.O. Box 165
Kabul, Afghanistan
Fax: (873) 76-1280784
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | -- |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Kabul |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 104 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 104 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 1 2007 3:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ntsb\Administrator |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | AAI-100 Washington DC |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | DCA05RA033 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | KG |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Herat |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | AF |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kabul |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | AF |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2006 9:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |