Trans-World Airlines Flight 645

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Airplane collision at Lod Airport
TWA 707 Cargojet (6068064499) .jpg

A Boeing 707-300C cargo plane of the TWA
Accident summary
Accident type Collision on the ground
place Tel Aviv-Lod Airport , IsraelIsraelIsrael 
date November 30, 1970
Fatalities 0
Fatalities on the ground 3
1. Aircraft
Aircraft type United StatesUnited States Boeing 707-373C
operator United StatesUnited States Trans World Airlines
Mark United StatesUnited States N790TW
Departure airport Lod Airport , IsraelIsraelIsrael 
Stopover Frankfurt Airport , FR GermanyGermany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany 
Destination airport John F. Kennedy International Airport , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Passengers 0
crew 3
Survivors 3
2. Aircraft
Aircraft type United States 48United States Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter
operator IsraelIsrael Israeli Air Force
Mark 4X-FPS / 037
Passengers 0
crew 0
Survivors 0
Lists of aviation accidents

The aircraft collision at Tel Aviv-Lod airport occurred on November 30, 1970, when a Boeing 707-373C cargo plane of Trans World Airlines (flight number: TW645) took off from Lod airport in Israel with a Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter from Israel Air forces being dragged across the runway at that very moment collided. Three people were killed in the accident.

Aircraft and crews

First airplane

The first aircraft was a Boeing 707-373C, which was delivered to Trans World Airlines on December 23, 1963 and has been operated by Trans World Airlines since then under the aircraft registration number N790TW . It was the 355th Boeing 707 from ongoing production, the machine had the factory number 18738. The machine was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B engines.

There was a three-person crew on board the machine, consisting of a captain, first officer and flight engineer.

Second plane

The second aircraft was a Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter ( serial number 16658) of the Air Force of Israel, which had received this from the US Air Force (former USAF serial number 52-2627) after 1965 . It was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney R-4360-59B engines. The machine carried the civil aircraft registration 4X-FPS and the nose number 037 of the Air Force.

At the time of the accident, the unmanned machine was being towed across the airport by three technicians.

the accident

An Israeli Boeing C-97G Stratofreighter in the Chazerim Museum

With the Boeing 707 Trans World Airlines was a cargo flight from Lod Airport to airport New York with a stopover on the Frankfurt airport be performed. The take-off run began at 2:55 a.m.

At the same time, three ground technicians towed a Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, which was to be used for a night air force exercise, from the eastern to the western part of the airport.

At the time of the accident, the procedures at Lod Airport provided that departures should take off eastwards via runway 12 at night. This was not known to the responsible air traffic controller, Silvia Myers. The crew of the Boeing 707 received clearance to take off from runway 30. The pilots accelerated the machine. Shortly before reaching decision speed, they noticed that the towed and unlit KC-97G Stratofreighter was crossing their path. The pilot who was piloting the Boeing 707 tried to pull it up just in front of the Stratofreighter, but he did not succeed. The left wing of his machine collided with the tail of the towed aircraft. Both machines caught fire in the collision. The Boeing 707 turned after the collision and then slid into a plowed field north of the runway.

The three employees from Israel Aerospace Industries who carried out the towing process pulled the machine across the runway without paying attention to the approaching traffic. Two of the men who towed the Stratofreighters were killed on site, the third died after a week in hospital. The crew of the Boeing 707 survived.

Cause of accident

After the accident, the Minister of Transport, Shimon Peres, set up an investigation committee to investigate the accident. This established three causes of the accident:

  1. Lack of coordination between air force and civil aviation personnel at the airport, which is used for both civil and military purposes
  2. Misconduct by civil and military air traffic control
  3. Serious security deficiencies at Lod Airport

Another cause of the accident was inadequate safety regulations for carrying out towing operations on the airport premises. In addition, the air traffic controllers are said to have given the technicians who towed the Stratofreighters clearance to cross runway 30 after they had given the crew of the TWA machine clearance to take off from the same runway immediately beforehand.

consequences

As a result of the accident, the persons responsible for air traffic control at Lod Airport were transferred or suspended. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the air traffic controller Myers. After completion of the work of the investigation commission convened by Transport Minister Shimon Peres, a new security concept was developed for Lod Airport:

  1. Operational responsibility for flight safety at Lod Airport has been transferred to the airport manager.
  2. Military air traffic control was subordinated to civilian rather than, as before, to the Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force.
  3. All aircraft that are moved near the runways of Lod Airport had to be equipped with flashing lights and continuously reachable by radio through air traffic control.
  4. Vehicles, people and aircraft moving in the area of ​​the runways may only do so with the express permission of air traffic control and must be in continuous radio contact with them for the duration of the maneuver.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Accident report collision TLV: B-707 N790TW , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 23, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b Accident report collision TLV: C-97K 4X-FPS / 037 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 23, 2019.
  3. ↑ Operating history B-707-373C, N790TW Jetphotos (English), accessed on March 23, 2019.
  4. ^ Israeli Air Force aircraft
  5. ↑ a b c d Crash of a Boeing KC-97G Stratotanker in Tel Aviv Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives (English), accessed on March 24, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Report on the plane collision at Lod airport sky-high.co.il (Hebrew), accessed on March 25, 2019.