Passengers 49 Injuries (non-fatal) 9 Date 27 April 1980 Operator Thai Airways Company Passenger count 49 | Fatalities 44 Survivors 9 Number of deaths 44 Survivor 9 Crew count 4 | |
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Summary Pilot error in thunderstorm Site 15 km north east of Bangkok, Thailand Similar Advance Airlines Flight 4210, Air Wisconsin Flight 965, Saudia Flight 162, Iran Air Flight 291, Thai Airways Flight 365 | ||
Thai Airways Flight 231 crashed on 27 April 1980. The Hawker Siddeley HS 748, registration HS-THB, stalled and crashed after entering a thunderstorm on approach to Bangkok. The accident killed 44 out of 53 passengers and crew on board Flight 231.
Accident
The flight took off from Khon Kaen Airport headed to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. After about 40 minutes Flight 231 was on approach to the airport and planned to land on runway 21R. It entered an area of rain which turned out to be a severe thunderstorm at 1500 feet. About a minute after entering the storm a downdraft struck the plane which caused the nose to go up and the plane to stall. The aircraft then went into a nose dive which the pilot tried to pull the aircraft out of. The Hawker then slightly banked to the right and was almost out of the dive when the aircraft crashed into the ground. The wreck of Hawker Siddeley HS 748 then slid for 510 feet and broke up at 06:55. The accident killed 44 of the passengers and crew, 9 people were injured in the crash.