Dornier Do 228

The Dornier Do 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) bought a production licence and manufactured 117 aircraft for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and Kanpur, India. In August 2006, 127 Dornier Do 228 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service.

In 2009, RUAG started building a Dornier 228 New Generation in Germany with the fuselage, wings and tail unit manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Kanpur (India) and transported to Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, where RUAG Aviation carries out aircraft final assembly, customized equipment installation, product conformity inspection and aircraft delivery. It is basically the same aircraft with improved technologies and performances, such as a new five blade propeller, glass cockpit and longer range. The first delivery was in September 2010.

In January 2013, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) announced that it would build 20 Do 228 aircraft during 2013.

Design and development


In the late 1970s, Dornier GmbH developed a new kind of wing, the TNT (Tragflügel neuer Technologie), subsidized by the German Government. Dornier tested it on a modified Do 28D-2 Skyservant and with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-110 turboprop engines. Finally, Dornier changed the engine and tested the new aircraft, which was named Do 128 with two Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-5 engines. The company developed a new fuselage for the TNT and TPE 331–5 in two variants (15- and 19-passenger) and named both project-aircraft E-1 (later Do 228-100) and E-2 (later Do 228-200). At ILA '80, Dornier presented the new aircraft in public. Both the prototypes were flown on 28 March 1981 and 9 May 1981 for the first time.

After German certification was granted on 18 December 1981, the first Do 228 entered service in the fleet of Norving in July 1982. British and United States certification followed on 17 April and 11 May 1984 respectively. Over the years Dornier offered the 228 in upgraded variants and with special equipment for special missions. In 1998 the production line was stopped for better development of the successor Fairchild-Dornier 328.

Do 228NG


The Dornier 228NG was produced by RUAG Aviation and certified by EASA on 18 August 2010. First delivery, to a Japanese customer, took place in September 2010. The main changes from the previous Dornier 228-212 model are a new five-blade propeller made of composite material, more powerful engines and an advanced glass cockpit featuring electronic instrument displays. In 2011, the Bangladesh Navy ordered two Do 228NG for the surveillance and search and rescue (SAR) mission. The aircraft were delivered on 3 June 2013.

Police, law enforcement, para-military operations

 * Indian Coast Guard - 38 Do 228-101 maritime surveillance aircraft
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands
 * Netherlands Coastguard
 * 🇴🇲 Oman
 * Royal Oman Police Air Wing
 * 🇲🇺 Mauritius:
 * Mauritius Coast Guard
 * Mauritius Coast Guard

Military operators

 * National Air Force of Angola
 * Bangladesh Navy operates two. Delivered on 3 June 2013.
 * 🇧🇹 Bhutan
 * Royal Bhutan Army (Bhutan Army Air Wing)
 * 🇨🇻 Cape Verde
 * Coast Guard of Cape Verde
 * 🇫🇮 Finland:
 * Finnish Border Guard
 * 🇩🇪 Germany:
 * German Navy - operates two Do 228s with one Do 228NG on order
 * 🇮🇳 India:
 * Indian Air Force - operates 40 Do 228-201 with a further 14 on order.
 * Indian Navy - operates 25 Do 228-201 and 1 Do 228-101 with a further 6 on order.
 * Italian Army - operates three Do 228s.
 * 🇲🇼 Malawi:
 * Military of Malawi - Operates one Do 228.
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands:
 * Royal Netherlands Air Force
 * 🇴🇲 Oman
 * Royal Air Force of Oman
 * 🇸🇨 Seychelles
 * Seychelles Air Force - operates one Do 228. A second to be delivered in 2014. Both aircraft donated by India.
 * Royal Thai Navy - operates 7 Do 228s.
 * 🇻🇪 Venezuela:
 * Venezuelan Air Force - eight Do 228NG and two second-hand Do 228-212s ordered 2013. Delivery expected from 2014.
 * Royal Thai Navy - operates 7 Do 228s.
 * 🇻🇪 Venezuela:
 * Venezuelan Air Force - eight Do 228NG and two second-hand Do 228-212s ordered 2013. Delivery expected from 2014.
 * Venezuelan Air Force - eight Do 228NG and two second-hand Do 228-212s ordered 2013. Delivery expected from 2014.

Former military operators

 * 🇩🇪 Germany:
 * German Air Force

Accidents and incidents

 * On 24 February 1985, the Polar 3, a Dornier 228 of the Alfred Wegener Institute, was shot down by guerrillas of the Polisario Front over West Sahara. All three crew members died. Polar 3, together with unharmed Polar 2, was on its way back from Antarctica and had taken off from Dakar, Senegal, to reach Arrecife, Canary Islands.


 * On 2 January 1993, an Indian Coast Guard Do 228 crashed in sea approx 20 nm off Orisa coast. One pilot and one maintenance crew survived. Four maintenance crew were killed.


 * On 31 July 1993, an Everest Air Dornier Do 228 crashed in the Himalayas, killing all 19 people on board.


 * On 10 August 1997, Formosa Airlines Flight 7601, crashed while attempting to land at Matsu Beigan Airport. All 16 passengers and crew on board perished in the accident.


 * On 6 September 1997, Royal Brunei Airlines Flight 238 crashed at Lambir Hills National Park on approach to Miri Airport. The crash killed all ten passengers and crew on board.


 * On 30 July 1998, Indian Airlines Flight IC 503 crashed while taking off at Cochin airport in Kerala killing all six persons on board and three others who were working inside a naval workshop building onto which it nose-dived and burst into flames.


 * On 7 August 1999, TACV Flight 5002 crashed into the side of a mountain on Santo Antão Island, Cape Verde in rain and fog. The accident killed all 18 passengers and crew on the Dornier Do 228.


 * On 4 December 2003, a Dornier 228 of Kato Air operating Flight 603 was struck by lightning, causing a fracture to the control rod that operated the elevator. The aircraft landed heavily just short of the runway at Bodø. Both crew members sustained serious injuries while both passengers sustained slight injuries. The aircraft, registered LN-HTA, was written off.


 * 31 August 2004, a Dornier 228 of Landsflug belly-landed at Siglufjordur Airport. The aircraft was written off and stored at Reykjavik Airport before being moved to the Flugsafn (Air Museum) in Akureyri in 2010.


 * In January 2005, Polar 4 was severely damaged during a rough landing at the British over-wintering station Rothera on the Antarctic Peninsula. As it was impossible to repair the plane, the aircraft had to be decommissioned. Since then, scientific and logistical tasks of polar flights have been performed by Polar 2.


 * On 17 September 2006, an 18-seater Dornier 228 Nigerian Air Force transport plane, carrying 15 senior army officers and three crew members crashed into a hillside, leaving only three surviving passengers and two crew members that sustained serious injuries. The plane with registration number NAF 033 crashed near a remote village in Benue State at about 10:30 a.m. The military officers were members of a committee set up by the government to reposition the Nigerian Army. The plane departed Abuja in the early morning hours of September 17, on its way to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State where the officers were to hold a retreat and crashed about 18 nautical miles from its destination.


 * On 13 December 2008, a Dornier 228 C-FYEV with 14 people on board operated by Summit Air Charters, was on approach at Cambridge Bay (YCB) after a flight from Resolute Bay (YRB) when the aircraft collided with terrain about 2,5 km short of the runway. One flight crew member and one passenger received minor injuries.


 * On 24 August 2010, Agni Air Flight 101 crashed outside of Kathmandu in heavy rain, killing all 14 people on board.


 * On 23 June 2011, Tara Air Do 228 9N-AGQ was substantially damaged in a heavy landing and runway excursion at Simikot Airport, Nepal. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight from Nepalgunj Airport.


 * On 14 May 2012, an Agni Air Dornier 228 crashed while attempting to land at Jomsom Airport, killing 15 of 21 people on board.


 * On 28 Sept 2012, a Sita Air Flight 601 crashed just one minute after it took off for Lukla Airport from Kathmandu, killing all 19 (16 passengers and three crew members) on board. Although the plane successfully crash-landed near the Manohara river, 50 meters away from the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport, it was destroyed by fire on the ground. Some witnesses stated that the aircraft had been on fire before landing . Later in a press release by TIA, it was confirmed that a bird struck the aircraft, leading to an unusual maneuver which was informed right away to ATC by the captain of the aircraft.


 * On 9 September 2013, A Corpflite Dornier 228, registration CC-CNW crashed into power lines whilst attempting to land in fog at Viña del Mar Airport, resulting in the loss of both crew members on board.