Crash of a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III in Hong Kong: 24 killed

Date & Time: Jun 30, 1967 at 1610 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HS-TGI
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Tokyo – Taipei – Hong Kong – Bangkok
MSN:
25
YOM:
1960
Flight number:
TG601
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
73
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
24
Captain / Total flying hours:
7800
Captain / Total hours on type:
3700.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
18400
Copilot / Total hours on type:
2300
Aircraft flight hours:
17350
Circumstances:
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.
Probable cause:
The causes of the accident were:
- The pilots did not adhere to the Thai Airways procedure for a 'Captain monitored' approach in bad visibility,
- The captain did not monitor the approach adequately,
- The copilot mishandled the aircraft after descending below minimum altitude,
- Downdraughts may have contributed to the height loss which resulted from this mishandling.
Final Report:

Ground accident of a Douglas DC-3 in Dschang

Date & Time: Jun 30, 1967
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
TJ-ABJ
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
15480/26925
YOM:
1944
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Suffered an accident at Dschang Airport. No casualties.

Ground accident of a Douglas DC-6 in Mazatlán

Date & Time: Jun 29, 1967
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
XA-NAH
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
43133/125
YOM:
1948
Country:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Suffered a ground accident at Mazatlán-General Rafael Buelna Airport. No casualties.

Crash of a Douglas DC-3 in Khamis Mushayt: 16 killed

Date & Time: Jun 24, 1967
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HZ-AAM
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Najran - Jeddah
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
16
Circumstances:
While en route from Najran to Jeddah, the pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed in a desert area located near Khamis Mushait. A passenger was seriously injured while 16 other occupants were killed.

Crash of a BAc 111-204AF in Blossburg: 34 killed

Date & Time: Jun 23, 1967 at 1447 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N1116J
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Elmira - Washington DC
MSN:
98
YOM:
1966
Flight number:
MO040
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
30
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
34
Captain / Total flying hours:
13875
Captain / Total hours on type:
603.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
4814
Copilot / Total hours on type:
677
Aircraft flight hours:
2246
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Elmira-Corning Airport at 1439LT on a schedule flight to Washington-National Airport, carrying 30 passengers and a crew of four. After takeoff, the crew was cleared to climb to FL160 when the airplane went into a nose-down attitude, plunged into the earth and crashed in a huge explosion in a wooded area located one mile east of Blossburg, Pennsylvania. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and none of the 34 occupants survived the crash.
Probable cause:
The loss of integrity of empennage pitch control systems due to a destructive in-flight fire which originated in the airframe plenum chamber, fueled by hydraulic fluid, progressed up into the vertical tail fin. The fire resulted from engine bleed air flowing back through the malfunctioning non return valve and an open air delivery valve, through the auxiliary power unit in a reverse direction, and exiting into the plenum chamber at temperatures sufficiently high to cause the acoustics linings to ignite.
Final Report:

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 in Karaganda : 9 killed

Date & Time: Jun 17, 1967 at 1826 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-71220
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Tselinograd - Karaganda
MSN:
184 390 06
YOM:
1951
Flight number:
SU447
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
31
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Aircraft flight hours:
12927
Circumstances:
On a flight from Tselinograd (now Astana) to Karaganda when the elevator control failed after touchdown (it had already caused problems during the flight). Aircraft lifted off again, reached a height of some 10-15 metres when it banked left to an angle of 60°. Due to critical angle of attack, the airplane stalled and crashed in flames onto the runway. Two crew and 7 passengers were killed while all other 25 occupants were seriously injured.
Probable cause:
Elevator control failure for undetermined reason.

Crash of a Douglas DC-3A-197D in La Paz: 5 killed

Date & Time: Jun 12, 1967
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
XA-FUW
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
La Paz - Mazatlán
MSN:
3260
YOM:
1940
Country:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
24
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from La Paz-Manuel Márquez de León Airport, while climbing, one of the engine failed. The pilot-in-command lost control of the airplane that stalled and crashed in a residential area. Three crew members and two people on the ground were killed while 25 other occupants were injured.
Probable cause:
Engine failure after takeoff.

Crash of a Douglas C-47B-15-DK in Jeddah: 18 killed

Date & Time: Jun 11, 1967
Operator:
Registration:
HZ-AAJ
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Madinah - Jeddah
MSN:
15235/26680
YOM:
1944
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
18
Circumstances:
On final approach to Jeddah-King Abdulazziz Airport, the twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances few km short of runway. All 18 occupants were killed.

Crash of a Curtiss C-46F-1-CU Commando in San Ramon

Date & Time: Jun 3, 1967
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
CP-769
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
22393
YOM:
1945
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Grumman G-73 Mallard off Avalon: 1 killed

Date & Time: May 27, 1967 at 1017 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N2968
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Avalon – San Diego
MSN:
J-25
YOM:
1947
Flight number:
216
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Captain / Total flying hours:
7054
Captain / Total hours on type:
6271.00
Circumstances:
While leaving the Avalon-Pebbly Beach seaplane base, the airplane struck waves caused by an engine-boat. The airplane went out of control, overturned and crashed. A pilot was killed while three other occupants were injured. The aircraft was lost.
Probable cause:
The pilot added power to continue takeoff when the airplane struck waves and failed to abort takeoff.
Final Report: