Scheduled Revenue Flight

Crashed in unknown circumstances while taking off. There were no casualties.

A recently discharged USAir employee boarded PSA flight 1771 after having left a goodbye message with friends. He bypassed security and carried aboard a borrowed 44 caliber pistol. A note written by this passenger, found in the wreckage, threatened his former supervisor at USAir, who was aboard the flight. At 1613, the pilot reported to Oakland ARTCC that he had an emergency and that gunshots had been fired in the airplane. Within 25 seconds, Oakland control controllers observed that PSA 1771 had begun a rapid descent from which it did not recover. Witnesses on the ground said the airplane was intact and there was no evidence of fire before the airplane struck the ground in a steep nose-down attitude. The cover tape revealed the sounds of a scuffle and several shots which were apparently fired in or near the cockpit. The pistol was found in the wreckage with 6 expended rounds. FAA rules permitted airline employees to bypass security checkpoints. All 43 occupants were killed.

After landing, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The twin engine aircraft departed Bella Coola on a scheduled service to Campbell River but failed to arrive at destination. SAR operations were initiated but eventually abandoned after few days as no trace of the aircraft nor the four occupants was found. The wreckage was never localized but it is believed the aircraft may have crashed in the Mt Waddington (4,016 meters high) area.

A Boeing 707-300 passenger plane, registered HL7406, was destroyed in an accident in the Indian Ocean, some 100 km off the coast of Myanmar. All 104 passengers and eleven crew members were killed. Korean Air flight 858 departed Baghdad, Iraq on a scheduled service to Seoul, South Korea. En route stops were planned at Abu Dhabi, UAE and Bangkok, Thailand. At 00:01 UTC Flight 858 departed Abu Dhabi, climbing to a cruising altitude of FL370. Last radio contact was at 05:01 UTC when the crew reported that they estimated reaching the TAVOY waypoint over the Andaman Sea at 05:22. Flight 858 was declared missing when it failed to arrive at the destination. On December 13, 1987 a local schooner found pieces of wreckage floating northwest off Tavoy, Myanmar. Korean Authorities, suspecting sabotage after the aircraft became missing, started checking on passengers who disembarked at Abu Dhabi and traced the suspects Mr.Hachiya Shinichi and Miss Hachiya Mayumi to Bahrain where they were apprehended while going through exit formalities at the airport. It was reported that they were found to be holding false Japanese Passports. While being held for interrogation, both committed suicide by taking poison capsules hidden in the cigarettes and Mr.Hachiya Shinichi died. Miss Hachiya Mayumi who survived the attempt was extradited to South Korea. It was reported that the passengers were found to be named Mr. Kim Sung-il and Miss Kim Hyon-hui of North Korean origin. For her role in the bombing Kim Hyun Hui was sentenced to death in March 1989. However, South Korean president Roh Tae-woo pardoned her in 1998.

On November 27th 1987 flight SA295 was scheduled to depart from Taipei's Chiang Kai Shek Airport at 13:00 UTC for Mauritius' Plaisance Airport and Johannesburg, South Africa on a scheduled international air transport service. Due to adverse weather and the late arrival of a connecting flight the departure time was delayed and the airplane took off at 14:23 UTC with 149000 kg of fuel, 43225 kg of baggage and cargo, 140 passengers and a crew comprising 5 flight crew members and 14 cabin crew members. The calculated flight time was 10 hours 14 minutes. The take-off was normal. At 14:56 UTC the crew communicated with Hong Kong Radar and thereafter routine position reports were given to the flight information centres (FICs) at Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Cocos Islands and Mauritius. At 15:55 a routine report was made to the Operator's base at Johannesburg. The information given was that the airplane had taken off from Taipei at 14:23, was flying at FL310 and that the arrival time at Mauritius was estimated as 00:35 UTC. At about 22:30 the pilot called Mauritius FIC, using HF radio, and advised that the aircraft had been at position 070° East at 22:29 at FL350 and that the time at position 065° East was estimated as 23:12. At 23:13 the position report of 065° East at FL350 was given to Mauritius FIC. The estimated time of arrival (ETA) over position 060° East was given as 23:58. About 23:45 the master fire warning alarm sounded on the flight deck. Somebody, probably the pilot, inquired where the warning had come from and received the reply that it had come from the main deck cargo. The pilot then asked that the check list be read. Some 30 seconds later somebody on the flight deck uttered an oath. The pilot called Mauritius Approach Control at 23:49 and said that they had a smoke problem and were doing an emergency descent to FL140. The approach controller gave clearance for the descent and the pilot asked that the fire services be alerted. The controller asked if full emergency services were required to which the pilot replied in the affirmative. At 23:51 the approach controller asked the pilot for his actual position. The pilot replied: "Now we have lost a lot of electrics, we haven't got anything on the aircraft now". At 23:52 the approach controller asked for an ETA at Plaisance and was given the time of 00:30. At 23:52:50 the pilot made an inadvertent transmission when he said to the senior flight engineer: "Hey Joe, shut down the oxygen left". From this time until 00:01:34 there was a period of silence lasting 8 minutes and 44 seconds. From 00:01:34 until 00:02:14 the pilot inadvertently transmitted instructions, apparently to the senior flight engineer, in an excited tone of voice. Most of the phrases are unintelligible. At 00:02:43 the pilot gave a distance report as 65 nautical miles. This was understood by the approach controller to be the distance to the airport. In fact it was the distance to the next waypoint, Xagal. The distance to the airport at that point was approximately 145 nautical miles. At 00:02:50 the approach controller recleared the flight to FL50 and at 00:03:00 gave information on the actual weather conditions at Plaisance Airport, which the pilot acknowledged. When the approach controller asked the pilot at 00:03: 43 which runway he intended to use he replied one three but was corrected when the controller asked him to confirm one four. At 00:03:56 the controller cleared the flight for a direct approach to the Flic-en-Flac (FF) non-directional beacon and requested the pilot to report on approaching FL50. At 00:04:02 the pilot said: "Kay". From 00:08:00 to 00:30:00 the approach controller called the aircraft repeatedly but there was no reply. The aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean at a position determined to be about 134 nautical miles North-East of Plaisance Airport. The accident occurred at night, in darkness, at about 00:07 UTC. The local time was 04:07. Within a few days drifting pieces of wreckage were found, but it took until January 28th, 1988 for the main wreckage field to be found on the Ocean floor, at a depth of 4400 meters. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered on 6 January 1989.

During arrival, the aircraft (Ryan flight 103) crashed short of runway 03. The fuselage stayed intact during impact, but the belly structure was compressed and vertical deceleration forces exceeded the design capability of the seats. Rescue personnel had difficulty shutting off the aircraft's electrical power which delayed removal of the 1st officer (f/o) from the aircraft. An investigation revealed the aircraft was loaded with approximately 600 lbs more cargo than the f/o had requested. The center-of-gravity (cg) was 8 to 11 inches behind the allowable aft limit and the flight crew did not comply with company and FAA procedures in computing the cg. During flight, up to 3/8 inches of ice accumulated on the aircraft's leading edges. There was evidence the crew lost control of the aircraft as the flaps were lowered. The right flap actuator was found in the 7 to 12° position and the stabilizer trim was found at the full nose down position. Flight tests showed there would be no significant difficulty in controlling the aircraft with up to 1.5 inch of ice on the leading edges and that static stability would deteriorate during flap extension with the aft cg configuration. Three passengers survived while 18 other occupants were killed.

The pilot estimated that the aircraft's reduced fuel quantity was adequate for the flight during his preflight inspection. As the aircraft descended for the traffic pattern near the destination airport both engines failed. After the loss of power the pilot executed a forced landing into a park with the landing gear not fully extended. The aircraft impacted the terrain and slid into a fence before coming to a stop.

Weather conditions were moderate snow and freezing temperatures. Following a 27 minute delay between deicing and departure, on takeoff the aircraft was over-rotated by the first officer. Aircraft control was lost, the aircraft stalled and impacted off the right side of the runway. Company procedures called for repeat deicing when in icing conditions if a delay exceeds 20 minutes. Confusion between the tower and the flight crew due to procedural errors resulted in the delayed takeoff clearance. Both pilots were inexperienced in their respective crew positions. The captain had 33 hours experience as a DC-9 captain. The first officer had 36 hours jet experience, all in the DC-9. First officer demonstrated weak scan in training and had pilot performance problems with previous employers. First officer was on reserve, and had not flown for 24 days. The trip was assigned to the first officer for proficiency. Flight was first officer's 2nd trip as DC-9 first officer. Wing vortices from a landing aircraft on a parallel runway were not a factor in the accident.

Crashed on takeoff. Crew fate unknown.