Fokker F28 Fellowship

The Fokker F28 Fellowship is no longer in airline service, and its record is weaker than its reputation as a sturdy short-haul jet. Up to 7 October 2026 it has 21 fatal events in our data, all on passenger flights and all counted, in about 6.6 million flights. The last was in 2003. Two causes dominate: flying into terrain in poor weather, and taking off with ice or snow on the wings.

What the F28 is

The F28 was the Dutch maker's first jet, a 65 to 85 seat airliner for short routes and small airports. It first flew in 1967 and entered service in 1969, and 241 were built. It has two Rolls-Royce Spey engines at the rear, a T-tail and a tail cone that splits open as an airbrake. The wing has no leading-edge slats, which kept it simple but leaves little margin when it is contaminated. The -1000 and -2000 were followed by the longer-range -3000 and the larger -4000. The Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 were developed from it.

Operators ranged from Braathens and Linjeflyg in Scandinavia to Piedmont and USAir in the US, Air Ontario in Canada, Turkish Airlines, Nigeria Airways and, above all, Garuda Indonesia and Merpati.

Terrain and weather

Eleven counted accidents were flights into terrain, most in cloud, fog or at night. Five were Garuda F28s between 1975 and 1983, including the 1979 crash into the Sibayak volcano near Medan (61 dead). SATENA lost 46 in 1985 after trying an approach to Florencia, in Colombia, through fog that had closed the airport. The last counted accident, in January 2003, was a TANS Peru F28 that flew into Cerro Coloque near Chachapoyas after an approach without a briefing; all 46 died.

These accidents tell more about where the F28 flew than about the aircraft: mountainous islands and Andean airfields with few navigation aids, long before terrain warning systems were required.

Ice on the wings

• 26 January 1974, Turkish Airlines, Izmir: the F28 stalled just after lift-off because of over-rotation and frost on the wings; 66 of 73 died.
• 10 March 1989, Air Ontario 1363, Dryden: with the auxiliary power unit broken, the crew could not be de-iced while an engine ran and took off in heavy snow; 24 of 69 died.
• 22 March 1992, USAir 405, New York La Guardia: after a long wait in falling snow following de-icing, the crew took off without confirming the wings were clean; 27 of 51 died.

The Dryden inquiry and the USAir investigation helped to tighten de-icing rules in Canada and the US. The lesson is general, but it applies with extra force to a wing like the F28's.

Other accidents

In 1981 an NLM Cityhopper F28-4000 flew into a tornado between two storm cells after leaving Rotterdam; the right wing failed and all 17 died. In 1994 an Air Mauritanie F28 landed hard in blowing sand at Tidjikja (80 dead), and an Iran Aseman F28 lost power in both engines after leaving Isfahan, for reasons never established (66).

No F28 event is excluded from the score: none was an attack, cargo or training flight. Our methodology explains how events are counted.

How to tell if you are on one

Flight trackers show F28. Two engines at the tail, a T-tail and a short body with five seats across mark it out; the Fokker 70 and 100 look similar but are longer.