Injuries (non-fatal) 42 (all on ground) Registration HL7373 Survivor 0 | Survivors 0 Date 15 April 1999 Fatalities 8 (including 5 on ground) Crew count 3 | |
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Similar Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, Korean Air Lines Flight 015, Korean Air Flight 803, China Southwest Airlines Fl, Korean Air Flight 85 | ||
Air disasters korean air cargo flight 6316
Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316 (also known as KAL6316 and KE6316) was a scheduled Korean Air Cargo flight from Shanghai to Seoul. On April 15, 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F operating the route, registered as HL7373, crashed in Xinzhuang, Shanghai shortly after taking off from Hongqiao Airport, killing all 3 crew on board, along with 5 on the ground. It was the second MD-11 crash in just over six months, and as of 2014 remains the second-deadliest MD-11 crash behind Swissair Flight 111.
Contents
Korean air cargo flight 6316
Accident
Loaded with 86 tons of cargo, the MD-11F operating Flight 6316 took off from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at around 4:00 pm. The flight crew consisted of 54-year-old Captain Hong Sung-sil (Korean: 홍성실), 35-year-old First Officer Park Bon-suk (Korean: 박본석), and 48-year-old flight engineer Park Byong-ki (Korean: 박병기). After taking off, the MD-11F received clearance to climb to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) after the first officer contacted Shanghai Departure.
As the aircraft climbed to 4,500 ft (1,400 m), the captain received the answer of the first officer that the required altitude should be 1,500 ft (460 m), thinking that the aircraft was 3,000 feet too high. Therefore, the captain pushed the control column abruptly forward, causing the aircraft to descend. At 4:04 pm, the aircraft became uncontrollable and eventually crashed into an industrial zone in Xinzhuang, which is 10 kilometres southwest of Hongqiao Airport. The aircraft dived into the ground and exploded, with 3 South Korean crew on board, 2 pupils and 3 migrant workers on the ground perished. The crash was recorded by the nearby Shanghai Earthquake Administration which indicated that the impact forces had generated an equivalent of a 1.6 magnitude earthquake.
Aircraft
The aircraft operated Flight 6316 was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter with the registration HL7373 and S/N 48409, powered by three Pratt & Whitney PW4460 engines. Built in February 1992, this aircraft was delivered to Korean Air as a brand new passenger aircraft on March 24, 1992. In 1996, the aircraft was converted to a freighter.
Investigation
On April 27, 1999, the primary investigation revealed no evidence of explosion or mechanical failure before the impact. In June 2001, further investigation carried out by CAAC showed that the first officer had confused 1,500 metres, the required altitude, with 1,500 feet, causing the pilot to make the wrong decision to descend.