Progress Multi Trade Air Flight 241 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The flight was operated by regional airliner PMTair using an Antonov An-24. On 25 June 2007, the Antonov An-24, registered as XU-U4A, disappeared over the Cambodian jungle near Bokor Mountain in Kampot while on approach to Sihanoukville. A massive search and rescue operation ensued with thousands of soldiers and police scoured the area. The aircraft was found to have crashed in southwestern Cambodia, northeast of Dâmrei Mountains. All 22 people on board, most of whom were South Korean tourists, were killed. It remains as the second deadliest air disaster in Cambodian history.
An investigation was completed in March 2008. The investigation concluded that the crash had been caused by several factors, including the pilots' decision to continue their flight beyond their designated flight route, their decision to continue the descent in inclement weather condition, and poor management from PMTAir. Director of Flight Directors for Cambodian State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, Kao Sivoeun, however stated that investigators could not determine whether the airline or the pilots were the ones to blame.
Background
The aircraft was making a domestic passenger flight from Angkor International Airport in Siem Reap to Sihanoukville International Airport in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Siem Reap was the main tourist hubs city to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. On the other hand, Sihanoukville was one of the most popular tourist destination in the country. The city was famous for its beaches and site of the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.
Tourism industry in Cambodia has improved, and most of the tourists were from South Korea. According to Cambodia's Tourism Ministry, South Korea had the highest number of tourists visiting Cambodia in 2006. Around 221,000 South Koreans were among 2006's total of 1.7 million foreign visitors. The airline, PMTair, was a small Cambodian airline that began flying from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in January 2007, a new route to spur the country's burgeoning tourism industry, which had been decimated due to the country's prolonged civil war. According to PMTAir's website, the airline has six roundtrip flights a week between Siem Reap and Incheon and Busan.
Aircraft
The aircraft was an Antonov An-24B, manufactured in Ulan-Ude, Russia in 1969 with a manufacturer serial number of 99901908. It was owned by UAE-based Aquiline International Ltd. and operated by PMTair. As of 25 June, the aircraft had accumulated a flying cycles of more than 25,000 cycles. It was equipped with two AI-24 turboprop engines. There were no recorded technical defects prior to the aircraft's accident flight.
Passengers and crew
There were 22 people on board the aircraft, though reports could not agree on the total number of passengers and crews. News media reported a total of 16 passengers and 6 crew members, however the official investigation report stated that there were 4 crew members and 18 passengers on board, without a confirmation on their nationalities. Of the passengers, thirteen were South Koreans and the other three were from the Czech Republic. The Korean passengers were part of a tour group. The crew was made up of 3 flight crew and 1 cabin crew, consisting of an Uzbekistani pilot and a Cambodian co-pilot, a Cambodian flight engineer and a Cambodian flight attendant. The other flight attendants, all of whom were Cambodians, were listed as passengers.
The commander of Flight 241 was identified as 56-year old Nikolay Pavlenko and his co-pilot was identified as 42-year old Uth Chan Dara. During the flight, the co-pilot was the pilot flying. The flight engineer was identified as 43-year old Hean Chan Dara. Pavlenko was an Uzbekistan citizen and previously had undergone training in the USSR. He had accrued a total flying experience of 10,345 flight hours, of which more than 5,000 were on the Antonov An-24. Compared to Pavlenko, Co-pilot Dara was less experienced with a total flying experience of 3,520 flight hours.
Flight
Flight 241 departed Siem Reap at 10:01 local time with 18 passengers and 4 crew members. Co-pilot Dara was the pilot flying while Captain Pavlenko was the pilot not flying. The crew had received weather information from air traffic controller earlier through phone. According to said information, there was cloud and rain north of Sihanoukville. The flight was later cleared to fly direct to Sihanoukville.