BOAC flight 911

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BOAC flight 911
Boeing 707-436, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) JP5996892.jpg

The crashed Boeing 707 G-APFE of the BOAC
Accident summary
Accident type Breaking apart in mid-air
place Mount Fuji , Japan
date March 5, 1966
Fatalities 124
Survivors 0
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 707-436
operator BOAC
Mark G-APFE
Departure airport Tokyo
Destination airport Hong Kong
Passengers 113
crew 11
Lists of aviation accidents

BOAC Flight 911 was a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) flight around the world . The Boeing 707 , which was on the way as Flight 911 on March 5, 1966, was piloted by Dorset captain Bernard Dobson, 45 , who was experienced in the type of aircraft and had been flying it since November 1960.

The plane broke and crashed near Mount Fuji . It had taken off from Tokyo Haneda Airport for a flight to Hong Kong 17 minutes earlier . All 113 passengers and the eleven crew members were killed in the accident. The passengers included a group of 75 Americans who, at the invitation of the Thermo King Corporation , wanted to take a 14-day trip through Southeast Asia . There were 26 married couples in the group who left a total of 63 children as orphans .

Result of the investigations

The aircraft involved in the accident arrived in Tokyo at 12:40 p.m. on the day of the accident from Fukuoka Airport , where it had been diverted the previous day due to weather conditions on the ground. The weather had improved since then, as a cold front with dry and cool air from the Asian mainland from a west-northwest direction had created clear visibility conditions. During its ground stop was the crew a weather briefing and filed a flight plan to instrument flight rules a (IFR), who suggested a south-facing departure on the island of Izu Oshima and then over the airway JG6 to Hong Kong on flight level 310 (ie in 31,000 feet high ) should lead.

At 1:42 p.m. the crew contacted air traffic control to obtain permission to take off and to change the flight plan to visual flight ( VMC ) with a climb over the Fujisan-Rebel-Kushimoto route. This brought the plane closer to Mount Fuji; possibly this was done to give passengers a better view of its summit. The Boeing 707 rolled onto the airfield at 1:50 p.m. and took off into the wind at 1:58 p.m. After take-off, the aircraft rose continuously over Tokyo Bay and turned on a southwest course that passed Odawara north . Then the machine turned right, flew over Gotemba, and maintained a course of 298 °, at a speed of 320 to 370 knots and an altitude of about 4900 meters (16,000 feet), that is, sufficiently above the 3775 meters (12,388 feet) high summit of the mountain.

The Fuji from 8500 meters.

During the flight into the wind, the aircraft approached Mount Fuji on the downdraft side and got into severe clear air turbulence caused by lee waves . Due to the high load, the structure failed and the machine suddenly broke apart in midair. At the time of the accident, wind speeds of 60 to 70 knots (120 km / h) from a north-westerly direction were measured on the summit of Mount Fuji. 30 minutes before the accident, lenticular clouds in connection with lee waves were observed on satellite images about 150 miles further south . However, these warning signs were not visible in the vicinity of the crash site.

A US fighter-bomber who ascended shortly after the crash to search for the wreckage also got into severe turbulence in the crash area. The accelerometer in the A-4 Skyhawk showed values ​​between +9 g and −4 g , causing a short-term loss of control. The pilot believed that the turbulence would also cause his plane to break apart. However, it regained control and landed safely on its base. The fighter-bomber has undergone a thorough safety inspection. A few other planes that passed near Mount Fuji that day had also reported moderate to severe air turbulence.

The aircraft accident was photographed by Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel at a nearby base, and 8 mm film footage of a passenger survived the crash. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing the plane spin and seeing white smoke before it broke up. This white cloud was later found to be atomized fuel leaking from the tanks. The film, which was filmed on board, after its development revealed to investigators that the plane had indeed got into severe turbulence just before it broke up. No information could be obtained from the flight recorder as it was destroyed by the fire when the aircraft's nose hit. The aircraft was not equipped with a voice recorder and no distress call was received through air traffic control.

The plane left a field of debris 16 kilometers long. Analyzes of the spread of the debris enabled investigators to determine that the tail unit of the fuselage was the first to fail. There remained traces of paint, which indicated that it tore off on the left side at the elevator and broke away to the left below. Shortly afterwards, part of the right wing bent upwards and broke off. The four engines and the forward section of the fuselage also failed to withstand the overstressing of the material, and each of these parts flew away in midair when it broke apart.

Although some fractures were found in the rudder bolt holes, subsequent tests showed that these had not contributed to the accident. However, these were classified as a potential danger to flight safety , and subsequent investigations of other Boeing 707 and similar Boeing 720 machines showed that this was a common problem, so that improvements to the fleets ultimately followed.

The investigation report concluded that the likely cause of the crash was suddenly occurring unusually severe turbulence over Gotemba, the strength of which exceeded the material design of the aircraft.

Further information

This accident was one of five serious commercial aviation accidents in Japan in 1966 and occurred less than 24 hours after the accident on Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 , on which a Douglas DC-8 of Canadian Pacific Air Lines was at the landing at Tokyo International Airport went up in flames. The Boeing 707 rolled about to start even at the smoking ruins of the injured Douglas DC-8 over.

At the last moment, some passengers decided not to board the flight and instead took part in a ninja performance. These passengers, namely Albert R. Broccoli , Harry Saltzman , Ken Adam , Lewis Gilbert and Freddie Young, were in Japan to find suitable locations for the fifth James Bond film You Only Live Twice .

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Slate Magazine: The State of the Ninja - By Grady Hendrix
  2. ↑ 'Inside You Only Live Twice: An Original Documentary,' 2000, MGM Home Entertainment Inc.