Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Zuria Mountains Uganda
Saturday, July 30, 2005 16:08 UTC

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 30, 2005 about 1908 hours local time, a Republic of Ugandan owned and operated Mi-172 helicopter, call sign AF-615, collided with mountainous terrain in the Zuria Mountain range near the borders of Uganda and Sudan during cruise flight . The 3 flightcrew, 1 cabin crewmember, and 9 passengers, including Sudanese Vice President John Garang, were fatally injured. The helicopter was destroyed and there was post crash fire. The departure point was Entebbe, Uganda (HUEN) and the destination was New Site, Uganda. The investigation is being jointly conducted by the Ugandan and Sudanese governments.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/30/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1608
Event Time Zone Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Event City Zuria Mountains
Event State --
Event Country UGANDA
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 040438N
Event Location Longitude 0335553E
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 Unknown
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 Unknown
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 13
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 13
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source US State Dept
NTSB Notification Date Aug 1 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 16 2005 5:42AM
User who most recently changed record JOND
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number --
NTSB Number WAS05RA013
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MIL Design Bureau
Aircraft Model Mi-172
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
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? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kampala
Operator State --
Operator Country UG
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 --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code HUEN
Departure City ENTEBBE
Departure State --
Departure Country UG
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City New Site
Destination State --
Destination Country SU
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2005 12:27PM
User who most recently changed record JOHB
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --