TAROM - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• On 29 December 1974, an Antonov An-24 (YR-AMD) operating on a domestic scheduled flight from Bucharest to Sibiu crashed into the side of the Mountains (Muntii) Lotrului (22 km south of Sibiu) at an altitude of 1,700 m, killing all 28 passengers and 5 crew members. The crew's incorrect approach procedure execution, which led to the aircraft drifting south off course by 20 km, while the wind was increasing turbulence was present.
• On 7 August 1980, a Tupolev 154B-1 (YR-TPH) operating on an international scheduled flight from Bucharest Otopeni Airport (OTP), Romania to Nouadhibou Airport (NDB), Mauritania ditched in the water 300 m short of the runway at Nouadhibou Airport. The crew could not see the runway while descending through the 90 m decision height. A missed approach procedure was initiated when the pilot felt contact with the what he thought was ground, but was actually water. All of the 152 passengers and 16 crew members survived the impact, but a passenger suffered a heart attack and died before he could be rescued. Most of the passengers were sailors who were going to replace the crew of two Romanian ships located on the Mauritanian coast. Many passengers swam to the land, while sharks were kept away by the vibrations of an engine which continued to function for a few hours after the crash.
• On 5 September 1986, an Antonov An-24 (YR-AMF) operating on a domestic scheduled flight from Bucharest Băneasa (BBU) touched down nose wheel-first while landing at the Cluj Airport (CLJ). A fire erupted, killing three crew members who were trapped in the cockpit. The other two crew members and all fifty passengers survived.
• On 28 December 1989, during the Romanian revolution, an AN 24 aircraft flying from Bucharest to Belgrade, carrying journalist Ian Henry Perry, was shut down by a missile at Vişina, Dâmboviţa. All the people on board (six crew members and the passenger) died
• On 24 September 1994, TAROM Flight 381, an Airbus A310 (YR-LCA) flying from Bucharest to Paris Orly, went into a sudden and uncommanded nose-up position and stalled. The crew attempted to countermand the plane's flight control system but were unable to get the nose down while remaining on course. Witnesses saw the plane climb to a tail stand, then bank sharply left, then right, then fall into a steep dive. Only when the dive produced additional speed was the crew able to recover steady flight. An investigation found that an overshoot of flap placard speed during approach, incorrectly commanded by the captain, caused a mode transition to flight level change. The auto-throttles increased power and trim went full nose-up as a result. The crew attempt at commanding the nose-down elevator could not counteract effect of stabilizer nose-up trim, and the resulting dive brought the plane from a height of 4,100 ft at the time of the stall to 800 ft when the crew was able to recover command. The plane landed safely after a second approach. There were 186 people aboard.
• On 31 March 1995, a TAROM Airbus A310 (YR-LCC) flying Flight 371 crashed near Baloteşti due to a fault in the throttles and lack of recovery from the flight crew. All 50 passengers and 10 crew members were killed.
• On 30 December 2007, a TAROM Boeing 737-300 (YR-BGC "Constanţa") hit a car on the runway of Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport while taking off for Sharm-el-Sheikh. The plane stopped beside the runway and was severely damaged. None of the passengers were injured. Because of fog, neither the tower nor the pilots saw the car belonging to staff who were repairing a runway beacon.