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Boeing 747 hull losses

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Boeing 747 hull losses

As of January 2017, a total of 61 Boeing 747 aircraft, or just under 4% of the total number of 747s built, first flown commercially in 1970, have been involved in accidents and incidents resulting in a hull loss, meaning that the aircraft has either been destroyed or has been damaged beyond economical repair. Of the 61 Boeing 747 aircraft losses, 32 resulted in no loss of life; in one, a hostage was murdered; and in one, a terrorist died. Some of the aircraft that were declared damaged beyond economical repair were older 747s that sustained relatively minor damage. Had these planes been newer it would have been economically viable to repair them, although with the 747's increasing obsolescence this is becoming less common. 747s have been involved in accidents resulting in the highest death toll of any aviation accident, the highest death toll of any single airplane accident and the highest death toll of a mid-air collision, although, as with most airliner accidents, the roots of causation in these incidents involved a confluence of multiple factors which rarely could be ascribed to flaws with the 747's design or its flying characteristics.

Contents

1970s

  • Pan Am Flight 93 was the first hull loss of a Boeing 747, the result of terrorism after it was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On September 6, 1970, a new Pan American World Airways aircraft flying from Amsterdam to New York was hijacked and flown first to Beirut, then to Cairo. Shortly after the occupants were evacuated from the aircraft after arriving at Cairo, it was blown up.
  • Japan Air Lines Flight 404, the second 747 hull loss, was very similar to the first. Japan Airlines jet was hijacked on a flight from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, on July 20, 1973, by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine working together with the Japanese Red Army. It flew to Dubai, then Damascus, before ending its journey at Benghazi. The occupants were released and the aircraft was blown up. One of the hijackers died.
  • Lufthansa Flight 540 was the first fatal crash of a 747. On November 20, 1974, it crashed moments after taking off from Nairobi, killing 59 people - there were 98 survivors. The cause was pilot error leading to a stall.
  • Air France Flight 193, a Boeing 747–128 (N28888) operating the sector between Bombay (now Mumbai), and Tel Aviv to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport was destroyed by fire, 12 June 1975, on the ground at Bombay's Santa Cruz Airport, following an aborted takeoff.
  • Imperial Iranian Air Force, flight ULF48, a 747 freighter crashed near Madrid on May 9, 1976, due to the structural failure of its left wing in flight, killing the 17 people on board. The accident investigation determined that a lightning strike caused an explosion in a fuel tank in the wing, leading to flutter and the separation of the wing.
  • KLM and Pan American World Airways, both 747s, on March 27, 1977, the highest death toll in any aviation accident in history occurred when KLM 4805 collided on the runway with Pan Am 1736 in heavy fog at Tenerife Airport, resulting in 583 fatalities. There were 61 survivors, all from the Pan Am 747. The Pan Am aircraft was the first 747 that entered commercial service.
  • Air India Flight 855 crashed into the sea off the coast of Mumbai (Bombay) on New Year's Day, 1978. All 213 passengers and crew died. The cause was lack of situation awareness on the captain's part after executing a banked turn.

    • 1980s

  • Korean Air Lines Flight 015, operating a flight from Los Angeles to Seoul, with a refueling stop at Anchorage, Alaska, was damaged beyond repair at landing on November 19, 1980. Of the 226 occupants, 15 passengers and crew died.
  • Pan Am Flight 73, a 747-100, departed the runway on landing at Karachi International on August 4, 1983. The nose gear struck a VASI light installation and its concrete base causing the nose gear to collapse backwards and to the left, resulting in total destruction of the VASI light installation and damage to the forward cargo hold, floor of the first class section and the stairway leading to the upper deck. Damage to the aircraft was substantial. (Not to be confused with a later hijacking in 1986 of a Pan Am Flight 73).
  • Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a 747-200B from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage and Tokyo, was shot down just west of Sakhalin Island by the Soviet Air Force on September 1, 1983. All 269 passengers and crew aboard died.
  • Avianca Flight 011, a 747-200 flying from Paris to Bogotá via Madrid, crashed into a mountainside on 27 November 1983 due to a navigational error while maneuvering to land at Madrid Barajas International Airport. 181 people died; there were 11 survivors.
  • On 16 March 1985, a UTA Boeing 747-300 (registration F-GDUA) was destroyed on the ground at Paris CDG when a fire was accidentally started while cleaning of the aircraft's cabin was in progress.
  • Air India Flight 182, a 747-200B, en route from Montreal to New Delhi, was blown up in midair off the Southwest coast of Ireland by a bomb on June 23, 1985. All 329 on board died. Until the September 11 attacks of 2001 the Air India bombing was the single deadliest terrorist attack involving aircraft. It remains "worst mass murder in Canadian history."
  • Japan Airlines Flight 123, an inadequate repair resulted in the loss of the 747SR (SR for Short Range) flying from Tokyo to Osaka on August 12, 1985. Most of the aircraft's vertical stabilizer was blown apart while the aircraft was at cruising altitude, after the rear pressure bulkhead failed. The pilots kept it in the air for 32 minutes but it eventually crashed, causing 520 fatalities - there were 4 survivors. It is the worst single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
  • On December 5, 1985, Air France Flight 91 departed the runway during a landing at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, Brazil. No fatalities, but the aircraft was damaged beyond economical repair.
  • South African Airways Flight 295, a 747-200BSCD "Combi" en route from Taipei to Johannesburg on November 28, 1987, crashed into the ocean off Mauritius after a fire in the rear cargo hold during the flight resulted in loss of control. All 159 people on board died.
  • Pan Am Flight 103, a 747-100, disintegrated in mid-air on December 21, 1988, due to a terrorist bomb in the luggage hold; the wings, with their tanks full of fuel, landed on Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people on board and 11 people in Lockerbie died. A Libyan national was eventually convicted of destroying the aircraft.
  • Flying Tiger Line Flight 66, on February 19, 1989, a 747-100F was flying a non-directional beacon (NDB) approach to Runway 33 at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Kuala Lumpur, when the aircraft hit a hillside 600 ft (180 m) above sea level, resulting in the deaths of all four people on board.

    • 1990s

  • British Airways Flight 149 was a 747-100 flying from London Heathrow Airport to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Kuala Lumpur with stopovers in Kuwait International Airport and Chennai International Airport, Madras. The aircraft landed in Kuwait City on August 1, 1990, four hours after the Gulf War broke out. All 385 passengers and crew were taken hostage by Iraqi forces; one was murdered but the others were released. The aircraft was subsequently blown up.
  • China Airlines Flight 358, a 747-200, crashed on December 29, 1991, shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, when the number three engine detached in flight and impacted the number four engine, also separating it from the aircraft.
  • El Al Flight 1862 was a cargo 747-200F that crashed shortly after departure from Amsterdam Schiphol on October 4, 1992. Engines 3 and 4 detached after takeoff as a result of metal fatigue prior to overload failure arising out of inadequate design; as a result the flight crew lost control and the crippled 747 crashed into the Klein-Kruitberg apartments in Bijlmermeer at high speed. The sole passenger and all three crew died as well as 39 on the ground.
  • On November 4, 1993, China Airlines Flight 605, a brand-new 747-400 from Taipei to Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport, landed 2000 feet past the threshold on runway 13, with insufficient braking power. Unable to stop before the end of the runway, the captain steered the aircraft into the Victoria Harbour. All passengers were evacuated via inflatable life rafts. The vertical fin was blown off with explosives, as it disrupted airport operations. The aircraft was recovered from the harbor days later and was written off.
  • TWA Flight 800, a 747-100 bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, exploded during its climb from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on July 17, 1996; all 230 people aboard died. A spark from a wire in the center fuel tank caused the explosion, although several alternative theories have persisted. Changes in fuel tank management were adopted after the crash.
  • In the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, a 747-100B collided with Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 in midair over Charkri Dadri in Haryana, India on November 12, 1996, resulting in the deaths of all 349 occupants of both aircraft, more fatalities than any other mid-air collision in history.
  • Korean Air Flight 801, a 747-300, crashed into a hillside on August 6, 1997, while on approach to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on the island of Guam; 228 aboard died - there were 26 survivors.
  • Korean Air Flight 8702, a Boeing 747-400 flying from Tokyo to Seoul, Incheon International Airport, diverted to Cheju. After take off from Cheju, the aircraft rolled off the runway during the landing at Seoul. The fuselage split and 25 people were injured on 5 August 1998
  • Air France flight 6745, a 747-2B3F (F-GPAN) carrying 66 tons of cargo from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Madras International Airport, Madras via Karachi and Bangalore HAL Airport on March 5, 1999, was destroyed by fire after landing with gear up. No fatalities.
  • Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a 747-200F from London Stansted Airport to Milan on December 22, 1999, was destroyed when it crashed shortly after take-off; all four crew died. The captain of the aircraft had manoeuvred it according to erroneous indications on his attitude indicator.

    • 2000s

  • Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a 747-400 flying from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, crashed into construction equipment on October 31, 2000 while attempting to take off from a closed runway at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport). It caught fire and was destroyed; 79 passengers and three crew members died - there were 96 survivors.
  • Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 3830, 22:08 Thursday August 23, 2001. The Boeing 747-368 rolled into a drainage ditch at Kuala Lumpur Airport and toppled forward causing the severe damage to the nose section. Reportedly, the aircraft was being taxied by a ground engineer on the no. 2 and 3 engines. When trying to make a turn brakes and steering had no effect and the aircraft continued into the ditch. It is said that the aux hydraulic pumps switches (which actuate brakes and steering) were in the off position.
  • MK Airlines, a 747-200F, crashed about 700m short of the runway near Port Harcourt Airport, Nigeria on November 27, 2001. Of the 13 on board, 1 died.
  • China Airlines Flight 611, a 747-200B, broke up over the Taiwan Strait mid-flight on May 25, 2002, en route to Hong Kong International Airport from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan 20 minutes after take off. All 225 occupants on board died. Metal fatigue at the site of a previous repair was cited as a cause.
  • MK Airlines Flight 1602, a 747-200F, crashed while attempting to take off from Halifax Stanfield International Airport on October 14, 2004. The aircraft's take-off weight had been incorrectly calculated and it was only airborne briefly before impacting an earthen berm at the end of the runway. The seven-member crew died.
  • Tradewinds International Airlines Flight 444, a 747-200F was substantially damaged after aborting a takeoff from Rionegro/Medellín-José María Córdova Airport and overrunning the end of the runway on June 7, 2006. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and withdrawn from service.
  • Kalitta Air, a 747-200F broke in three parts when it overran Runway 20 at Brussels Airport, Belgium on May 25, 2008 on departure for Bahrain International Airport. The five crew members were uninjured.
  • Kalitta Air, a 747-200F crashed into a farm field near the small village of Madrid, Colombia shortly after takeoff from El Dorado International Airport on July 7, 2008. The crew had reported an engine fire and were attempting to return to the airport. One of the aircraft's engines hit a farmhouse; three people inside died.

    • 2010s

  • UPS Airlines Flight 6, a 747-400F, crashed close to Dubai International Airport on September 3, 2010; two crew members died.
  • Asiana Airlines Flight 991, a 747-400F, crashed to the sea near Jeju island on July 28, 2011, and two crew members died.
  • National Airlines Flight 102, 747-400BCF, stalled and crashed shortly after taking off from Bagram Airfield, in Bagram, Afghanistan, on April 29, 2013; all 7 crew members died.
  • On December 22, 2013, British Airways Flight 34, a Boeing 747–436 G-BNLL, hit a building at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg after missing a turning on a taxiway. The right wing was severely damaged but there were no injuries amongst the crew or 189 passengers, however four members of ground staff were injured when the wing smashed into the building. The aircraft was officially written off in February 2014.
  • On March 19, 2015, 7O-YMN, a 747-SP used by the Yemeni President, was damaged by gunfire from troops loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh. Photos released a few months later show the remains of the aircraft after having been set on fire.
  • On January 16, 2017, Turkish Airlines Flight 6491, a 747-400F operated by ACT Airlines en route from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, overshot the runway on landing in thick fog at Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and caught fire. At least 38 people died, including all four crew members, as well as 34 residents of a village at the crash site.

    • References

    Boeing 747 hull losses Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA