LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique Embraer 190-100AR plane crash
Bwabwata Park, Namibia
Updated on
The Embraer ERJ-190 operated by LAM Linhas Aereas de Mocambique took off from Maputo, Mozambique, for a passenger flight to Luanda, Angola. 27 passengers and 6 crewmembers were onboard. The plane disappeared from radar screens while it was en-route to its destination. The aircraft was found crashed and burnt down the following morning, on Namibia's territory in the Bwabwata National Park. All the 33 occupants perished.
The Embraer ERJ-190 was enroute at FL380 (approximately 11,400 meters high) when it began to descend at about 100 feet (30m) per second (6000 feet (1800m) per minute), it remained visible on radar until an altitude of about 3000 feet (900m). Radio contact was lost also at that moment. The wreckage is spread out on a small surface: this shows the plane impacted the ground violently with a high vertical speed.
The aircraft had entered service with the airline on Nov 17th 2012 and had since accumulated 2905 flight hours in 1877 flight cycles. The aircraft had undergone its last inspection on Nov 28th 2013, the day before the accident.
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder revealed, that the captain was alone on the flight deck, banging on the flight deck door could be heard on the cockpit voice recorder. The autoflight systems (autothrottle and autopilot) were engaged. There were sounds and clicks consistent with a person knowledgeable of the aircraft systems commanding the engines to idle thrust and selecting the autoflight systems into a descent at 6000 feet per minute. Numerous warnings and alerts were not responded to. The conclusion is that the captain intentionally crashed aircraft.
