On Saturday (July 16), an Antonov An-12 registered as UR-CIC and operated by Ukrainian airline Meridian was flying between the Serbian city of Nis and Amman, Jordan, when the aircraft turned around shortly after entering the Aegean Sea near Kavala. On approach to Kavala, amateur videos show the aircraft being on fire before crashing into the countryside.
Initial reports indicate that a total of eight people were onboard the Antonov when it crashed near Kavala, no one survived the accident. Additionally, residents near the crash site were instructed to keep all doors and windows closed since the aircraft was presumably transporting dangerous cargo. The following day it was confirmed that the aircraft was flying munition from Serbia to Bangladesh.
Meridian is a Ukrainian cargo airline and operated two Antonov An-12 before yesterday’s accident, which it uses for global cargo flights as well as humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.
Jan-Hendrik is an aviation enthusiast from Germany, loves to travel the world and fly on as many aircraft as possible. His first flight was with a Condor 757 to Spain and has been interested in aviation ever since. His fields of expertise are aircraft accidents and passenger experience (PaxEx).
