Scheduled Revenue Flight

Flight 523 was a scheduled international flight from Prague, Czechoslovakia to Havana, Cuba, via Shannon, Ireland, and Gander, Newfoundland. It departed Prague at 1649 hours GMT on 4 September and proceeded to Shannon where it arrived at 2020 hours for a routine servicing stop. It departed Shannon at 2131 hours arriving at Gander at 0326 hours on 5 September following an uneventful flight. The crew which had flown the aircraft from Prague disembarked at Gander and was replaced by a crew which had been off duty in Gander from 3 September. At Gander the aircraft was serviced and refuelled under the supervision of the flight engineer of the outgoing flight. A flight plan to Havana was filed at about 0405 hours and at 0504 hours the aircraft began taxiing to the threshold of runway 14. It was cleared to take-off at 0508 hours. The length of the ground roll was normal, the undercarriage and flaps were retracted, but the angle of climb was abnormally shallow. At 0509 hours the flight advised the tower controller that the aircraft was airborne, the tower controller acknowledged the transmission and advised the flight to contact Air Traffic Control Centre on a frequency of 119.7 MHz. Whilst the radio operator was changing frequency the aircraft struck the ground about 4 000 feet beyond the end of the runway. The accident occurred at 0510 hours GMT. Debris scattered on 1,500 meters and 32 occupants were wounded while 37 others were killed, among them 4 crew members.

Shortly after take off from Myeshchura Airport, while on initial climb at a height of 150 meters, the engine control lever got disconnected. The airplane lost speed, stalled, hit tree tops at a speed of 100 km/h then crashed in flames in the taiga some three kilometers from the airport. Six passengers were killed while seven other occupants, including both pilots, were injured.

While approaching Marshfield Airport from the northeast, the right engine failed. The pilot increased power on the left engine but as he was unable to maintain a safe altitude, he ditched the aircraft off Humarock. All 14 occupants were quickly rescued while the aircraft later came to rest onto the beach and was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft departed Vientiane-Wattay Airport at 0935LT bound for Luang Prabang, in the north. While approaching his destination, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and was unable to locate the airport. The captain decided to follow a holding pattern when the airplane struck the slope of a mountain shrouded in clouds. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 16 occupants have been killed. The airplane was leased from Taiwan Aviation.

The three engine aircraft departed Asheville Regional Airport at 1158LT and climbed to its assigned altitude. About three minutes later, while climbing to an altitude of 6,132 feet in a limited visibility due to clouds, the aircraft collided with a Cessna 310 registered N3121S. Operated by Lanseair, it was carrying two passengers and a pilot. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a dense wooded area located about nine miles southeast of Asheville Airport. The wreckage of the 727 was found in a forest along a highway located in Hendersonville. All 82 occupants in both aircraft were killed.

Shortly after liftoff, while climbing to a height of 100 feet, one of the engine caught fire and exploded. The airplane stalled and crashed in a prairie located about 720 meters past the runway end. Three crew members and 39 passengers were killed, among them Albert Sylla, the Malagasy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The three crew members who were killed were Mr. Chevrier, captain, Mr. Turin, mechanic and Mr. Goirand, radio navigator.

The four engine aircraft departed Conakry Airport on an international scheduled flight to Moscow with intermediate stops at Rabat and Prague. While descending to Rabat, the pilot was informed by ATC that it was not possible to land in Rabat due to poor weather conditions and was vectored and rerouted to Casablanca-Anfa Airport. Unfamiliarized with this airport, the pilot-in-command started the approach to runway 21 at an insufficient altitude when he spotted a building in the approach path. He increased power and gain altitude, causing the aircraft to pass over the glide but continued the approach, causing the airplane to land too far down the runway. After touchdown, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest 300 meters further. All 102 occupants were evacuated, among them 10 were injured. The aircraft was destroyed and its wreckage caused the airport to be closed to all traffic for three days.

The crew departed Bacolod Airport at 1833LT on a flight to Mactan. About ten minutes later, while cruising in poor weather conditions, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Kanlaon located 34 km southeast of Bacolod Airport. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 21 occupants were killed. The crew was flying under VFR mode in IMC conditions when the accident occured.

Thai Airways International Flight 601, a scheduled passenger service from Taipei International Airport, Formosa, to Hong Kong International Airport, departed from Taipei at 0540 hours with an estimated enroute time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and an endurance of 4 hours 19 minutes. The flight was made at flight level 260 and was entirely normal except that, because of turbulence expected from a severe tropical storm, the passenger seat belts were on for the majority of the flight. No turbulence of any importance was in fact experienced. At 0638 hours, when approximately 170 miles from Hong Kong, Flight 601 made contact with Hong Kong airways control and received clearance to descend to flight level 70. At 0658 hours they contacted Hong Kong approach control, which later cleared them to descend to 2 500 feet using an altimeter setting (QNH) of 999 mb, and informed them that there was a heavy rain shower at Hong Kong and that the visibility was very reduced to 2 km. The co-pilot flew the aircraft manually from the right-hand seat, whilst the Captain monitored the approach from the left hand seat and handled the R/T communications, the third pilot, who was acting as the system operator, also monitored the flight instruments. Rhe approach controller provided radar guidance to position the aircraft for an ILS approach to runway 31 and when it was at about 8 miles from touchdown, cleared the pilots to contact the precision controller. This controller cleared them to continue their ILS approach, informed them that there was heavy rain at the field and told them the overshoot procedure to be adopted should this become necessary. The aircraft remained well within the approach safety funnel 2° either side of the localiser centerline and 1/2° above or below the glide slope, until 3 miles from touchdown, the PAR controller having provided information on weather, overshoot instructions and distance from touchdown as shown on the R/T transcript at Appendix C. In his 3 miles distance advisory, the PAR controller informed the pilot that he was just a little to the right; this appeared to be corrected and the aircraft returned to the centre line. At about 2 3/4 miles, the aircraft descended momentarily below the glide slope safety funnel but returned quickly towards the glide slope before the PAR controller had made any advisory comment. At 1 1/2 mile the aircraft was again a little right of centre line and at this time also interference from the heavy rain began to obscure PAR reception, firstly in elevation and, shortly after one mile, also in azimuth. Correlation of the flight recorder readout and the R/T transcript indicates that-approximately 2 seconds after receiving the 1 1/2 mile advisory that he was a little to the right, the co-pilot made a left turn of 14°. Eight seconds later, the PAR controller advised him that he was coming back to the centre line and almost immediately he began a right turn of similar dimensions. Five seconds after this, the PAR controller save the 1 mile advisory and the information that the aircraft was going left of centre after which the aircraft increased its rate of turn to the right. On hearing the 1 mile advisory, the captain reinforced it by telling the co-pilot to move to the right and a moment or two later, when looking across the cockpit, saw the sea about 100 ft below through the copilot's side window. He immediately attempted to make a pull-up, but the aircraft struck the surface, bounced slightly, and settled on the water about 3 925 ft before the ILS reference point of runway 31 and about 100 ft left of the ILS centre line. According to the survivors the impact was not unduly greater than that of a heavy landing but the starboard wing and undercarriage broke away, the latter ripping open the underside of the fuselage; in addition, the rear end of the fuselage broke open. As a result of this damage the aircraft sank very rapidly and 14 of the passengers did not escape from the fuselage and were drowned, 6 were dead on arrival at hospital, 4 were missing and later found drowned. The remaining passengers and the crew were rescued by nearby surface vessels and a helicopter.

Suffered an accident at Dschang Airport. No casualties.