LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470

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LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 (TM470/LAM470) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Maputo International Airport, Mozambique that crashed on 29 November 2013 into the Bwabwata National Park in Namibia en route to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Angola. The aircraft operating the flight, an Embraer 190, departed Maputo at 11:26 CAT (09:26 UTC) and was due to land at 14:10 WAT (13:10 UTC), but failed to arrive at its destination. The wreckage of the aircraft was found the following day on 30 November 2013 at the Bwabwata National Park in northern Namibia, halfway between its departure and scheduled arrival airport. All 27 passengers and 6 crew members were killed. Preliminary findings of the Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute (IACM) showed that the pilot intentionally crashed the jet. The Mozambican Association of Air Operators (AMOPAR) disputes the conclusion of the IACM. The Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations Namibia stated that the pilot inputting controls leading to the crash was the probable cause of the aviation accident.

It was the first fatal incident for LAM Mozambique Airlines since 1970, and the deadliest for a Mozambican airline since the Mozambican presidential Tupolev Tu-134A-3 aircraft carrying President Samora Machel crashed in 1986

Investigation

On 21 December 2013, the Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute (Instituto Moçambicano de Aviação Civil, IACM) head João Abreu presented the preliminary investigation report, according to which Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes had a "clear intention" to crash the jet and manually changed its autopilot settings, making this a suicide by pilot. The aircraft's intended altitude was reportedly changed three times from 38,000 feet (11,582 m) to 592 feet (180 m), the latter being below ground level, and the speed was manually adjusted as well. The cockpit voice recorder captured several alarms going off during the descent, as well as repeated loud bangs on the door from the co-pilot, who was locked out of the cockpit. Contrary to regulations by Mozambique Airlines, no cabin crew member was deployed in the cockpit during the time of the co-pilot's absence.

Investigations of the aircraft's pilot revealed that 49-year old Captain Fernandes had suffered a number of blows of fate prior to the accident. His son died in a suspected suicide in November 2012; Fernandes stayed away from the funeral. His daughter was in hospital for heart surgery at the time of the crash, and his divorce proceedings were unresolved for over a decade.

Despite the conclusion of the IACM, the Mozambican Association of Air Operators (AMOPAR) disputed the preliminary report, explaining that the maneuvers of Captain Fernandes were from the manual of standard operating procedures issued by Embraer (the manufacturer of the crashed aircraft) about how to "act in emergency situation to avert disaster". According to the AMOPAR document, the Mozambican Government had not complied with the standards and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) "about the disclosure, contents and procedures relating to the preliminary report of the investigation of the crash of flight TM 470." On 15 April 2016 the DAAI released its final report finding that the inputs to the auto flight systems by the person believed to be the Captain, who remained alone on the flight deck when the person believed to be the co-pilot requested to go to the lavatory, caused the aircraft to depart from cruise flight, transition to a sustained controlled descent and subsequently crash.

Incident summary
Date	29 November 2013
Summary	Deliberate crash and suicide by pilot
Site	Bwabwata National Park, Namibia
Passengers	27
Crew	6
Fatalities	33
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Embraer 190
Operator	LAM Mozambique Airlines
Registration	C9-EMC
Flight origin	Maputo International Airport, Maputo, Mozambique
Destination	Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Luanda, Angola

Air Crash Investigation