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An-12 freighter carrying land mines crashes in Greece

Antonov plane belonged to Ukrainian cargo airline

Eric Kulisch
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Debris of an Antonov cargo plane is seen in Palaiochori village in northern Greece, Sunday, July 17, 2022, after it crashed on its way from Serbia to Jordan. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

A Soviet-built propeller cargo airplane operated by a small Ukrainian airline crashed in northern Greece late Saturday with a 12.5-ton load of Serbian munitions destined for Bangladesh, according to officials and media accounts. All eight crew members for Meridian cargo airline were killed.

The Antonov An-12, a four-engine turboprop, was heading from Niš, Serbia, to Amman, Jordan, for a refueling stop, when it crashed about 40 kilometers west of the Kavala airport after the pilot radioed about problems with one of the engines, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. 

Local eyewitnesses said the airplane was on fire as it descended. The Ukrainian foreign ministry confirmed that all the dead were Ukrainian nationals.

A Meridian An-12 cargo plane at the Kaunas, Lithuania, airport Nov. 7, 2021. (Photo: Shutterstock/Adomas Daunoravicius)

Serbian defense officials said the freighter was transporting Serbian-made land mines, mortar shells and other weaponry to Bangladesh, the BBC and other media sources reported.


Greek authorities warned people to stay in their homes because of concerns about chemical fumes and explosions from the destroyed cargo.

The aircraft that crashed was more than 50 years old. An-12s were originally built by the Antonov Design Bureau, located in Kyiv, Ukraine, as a medium-range cargo and paratroop transport aircraft for the Soviet air force.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.


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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com