Date & Time:
Jan 15, 1975 at 1721 LT
Type of aircraft:
Ilyushin II-18
Operator:
Registration:
HA-MOH
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Ferry
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Berlin - Budapest
MSN:
184 0071 04
YOM:
1964
Flight number:
MA801A
Country:
Hungary
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
9
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
The approach to Budapest-Ferihegy Airport runway 31L was initiated in poor weather conditions with limited visibility due to fog. On short final, the pilot-in-command elected to make a go-around when the airplane struck the ground and crashed 1,360 meters short of runway 31L threshold and 120 meters to the left of its centerline. The airplane crashed and burned and all nine crew members who were completing a ferry flight from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport were killed. At the time of the accident, the horizontal visibility was reported to be 300 meters with a 1,500 meters RVR for runway 31L. The vertical visibility was 30 meters.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the crew mistook the runway lights with the apron lights. The crew initiated a go-around procedure after he changed his decisions four times during the 27 seconds preceding impact.
