| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 15.11.12 17:11l 50 Lines 2271 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 31349_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 15
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N4JOA<N4ZKF<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 121115/1507Z 31349@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Nov 15, 1978:
Plane crashes into Sri Lankan plantation
A plane carrying Muslim pilgrims from Mecca to Indonesia crashes
in Sri Lanka on this day in 1978, killing 183 people.
The Icelandic Airlines DC-8 was chartered by Garuda Indonesian
Airways to carry Muslim pilgrims back to Indonesia from their
trek to Mecca. The flight was scheduled to takeoff from Jeddah
Airport in Saudi Arabia and land at Surabaya Airport in
Indonesia, with a stopover in Sri Lanka to refuel and take on new
crew members. The flight went smoothly until it began its
approach to Colombo Airport in Katunayake, Sri Lanka. At 10:53
p.m., the pilot of the DC-8 requested the use of runway 22 and
began a normal ILS (instrument landing system) approach. Thirty
minutes later, the plane crashed into a rubber and coconut
plantation.
A detailed investigation into the crash, using the recovered
voice and data recorders, revealed that the pilots had made
several small, yet crucial, errors. As the plane made its
approach, the pilots failed to acknowledge the control tower and
did not count down their altitude on the descent. Under most
circumstances, this failure to monitor the plane's so-called sink
rate would not have affected the flight. However, the plane was
actually descending too quickly as it came to the runway. At this
point, the plane's altimeter should have sounded a warning, but
it had been incorrectly set to make a safety alert at 150 feet
instead of 250 feet. So, by the time the pilots realized their
descent was too rapid, it was too late to abort the landing.
The plane hit the tops of several coconut trees a mile short of
the runway and then slammed into a field of rubber trees.
Although the main fuselage stayed intact, a huge fireball
erupted. Five firefighting units were immediately dispatched to
the crash site, but they were unable to get close to the plane
because of the density of the rubber trees. One hundred seventy
five passengers and 8 crew members died in the crash and
subsequent fire. Another 32 people suffered serious injuries.
Miraculously, the front of the main cabin was not affected by the
fire, allowing 47 people to walk away from the crash.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Outpost Version 2.6.0 c29
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
