In July 2022, an Antonov An-12 cargo plane crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, killing all eight crew members on board. Officials later confirmed that the aircraft had been carrying around 11 tonnes of Serbian-made military equipment, including mines, bound for Bangladesh.
What happened
The plane, operated by the Ukrainian cargo airline Meridian, had taken off from Niš in Serbia late on Saturday 16 July. Shortly after, the pilot reported an engine problem and requested an emergency landing at Kavala airport. The aircraft did not reach the runway and came down in farmland at around 22:45 local time.
Videos filmed by local residents showed the plane on fire as it descended, followed by a large fireball and a series of explosions after impact. One witness said she was amazed that nearby homes were not damaged, describing how the smoking plane made an unusual noise as it flew over a hill before turning and crashing into the fields. Emergency vehicles arrived quickly but could not get close because of repeated blasts.
Safety measures at the scene
Because of the dangerous cargo, authorities told people living within two kilometres of the crash site to stay indoors with their windows closed. Firefighters were kept back while drones surveyed the wreckage, and army explosives experts and staff from Greece’s Atomic Energy Commission were called in to assess the area.
A senior fire brigade officer explained that air measurements had not detected anything hazardous, but crews had observed heavy smoke, intense heat and an unidentified white substance, so specialists needed to confirm the site was safe before anyone approached.
The cargo and route
Serbia’s defence minister at the time, Nebojša Stefanović, said the plane was carrying more than 11 tonnes of Serbian-manufactured weapons, including training mortar shells and illumination mines, under a legal contract with Bangladesh’s defence ministry. The flight was due to make stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and India before reaching Dhaka.
Officials said there was no indication of any connection to the war in Ukraine, despite the plane being operated by a Ukrainian company.
Aftermath
Investigations into the cause of the crash were launched by Greek and Ukrainian authorities. The incident drew attention to the risks involved in transporting military cargo on older aircraft such as the An-12, a Soviet-era design still widely used by cargo operators.
