Passengers 115 Survivors 45 Flight origin Tivat Airport Site Prague Fatalities 75 | Crew 5 Registration YU-AJO Date 30 October 1975 Operator Adria Airways | |
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Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 Summary Controlled flight into terrain Destination Václav Havel Airport Prague Similar Western Airlines Flight 470, Turkish Airlines Flight 345, Interflug Flight 1107, Inex‑Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, Agadir air disaster | ||
Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 450 was an international charter flight from Tivat in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Prague, Czechoslovakia which crashed in the Prague suburb of Suchdol on October 30, 1975. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with 115 passengers and 5 crew on board descended into a gorge during its approach to land at Prague Ruzyně Airport and was unable to out-climb the rising terrain. The crash killed 75 of the 120 occupants.
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Flight
The DC-9 was operated by Inex-Adria Aviopromet on a morning flight from Tivat to Prague and was on approach to land at Ruzyně Airport's Runway 24 in foggy conditions with a horizontal visibility of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). The instrument landing system for the runway was reportedly not available to guide the aircraft on its final approach. The crew inadvertently descended the aircraft into a gorge cut by the Vltava below the elevation of the airport after making a right turn towards the airport. They brought the engines to maximum power and tried to climb the aircraft out of the river gorge, but it hit trees and a building and crashed 300 feet (91 m) below the airport's elevation at 9:20am. Of the 115 passengers and 5 crew on board, 71 passengers and 4 crew were killed. The accident remains the worst aviation disaster on the Czech Republic soil.
Aircraft
The aircraft operating the flight was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, registered YU-AJO and manufactured in 1971.