The shocking accident involving an Azerbaijan Airlines E190 on Christmas morning is a rare occurrence in the history of Embraer’s E-Jet family.
Regional aircraft with a capacity to carry 70 to 120 passengers, they have been in service for just over 20 years, with over 1,800 jets delivered, including 135 from the E2 family.
In that time, only two aircraft have been lost in fatal accidents, one in 2010 and the other in 2013. Both crashes involved human error and intentional action.
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In August 2010, a Henan Airlines E190 was on flight 8387 from Harbin to Yichun Lindu Airport when it crashed less than a thousand meters from the runway.
Investigations revealed that the aircraft commander maintained the landing approach even with visibility of 2,800 m, well below the minimum of 3,600 m.
The aircraft ended up crashing into the ground, killing 44 of the 96 occupants.
A little over three years later, in November 2013, another E190, from Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, crashed in the Bwabwata National Park in Namibia, killing all 33 people on board.
The plane had taken off from Maputo bound for Luanda on flight TM470 when the co-pilot left the cabin to go to the lavatory. The commander then locked the door and began a descent until it crashed into the ground.
Some other E-Jets were destroyed, but in situations where all occupants survived, such as in July 2007 when an E190 from Aero República slid down a ravine on the side of the runway.
In September 2011, another E190, this time from Ecuador’s state-owned TAME, veered off the runway in Quito. Of the 103 people on board, only 11 suffered minor injuries.
