Korean Air Flight 6316
| Korean Air Flight 6316 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The machine before being converted into a cargo plane |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | controlled flight into terrain |
| place | 12 km SW of Shanghai Airport |
| date | April 15, 1999 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Fatalities on the ground | 5 |
| Injured on the ground | 40 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-11 |
| operator | Korean Air |
| Mark | HL7373 |
| Departure airport | Shanghai Hongqiao Airport |
| Destination airport | Seoul Gimpo Airport |
| Passengers | 0 |
| crew | 3 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On April 15, 1999, an accident cargo airplane of the type McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on the Korean Air flight 6316 ( Flight number : KE6316) about three minutes after taking off from the airport Shanghai Hongqiao . The three crew members and five people were killed on the ground in the accident. In addition, 40 people were injured on the ground, four of them seriously.
plane
The aircraft ( registration number : HL7373, c / n : 48409, s / n : 490) made its maiden flight on February 19, 1992 and was the third of four McDonnell Douglas MD-11s to be delivered to Korean Air on March 24, 1992 . The South Korean airline initially used the machine as a passenger aircraft and had it converted into a cargo aircraft in March 1996. By the time the accident occurred, the machine had completed a total of 28,347 flight hours and 4,463 flights.
the accident
Before departure from Shanghai , the air traffic controller in the tower gave the crew permission to travel to Seoul and instructed them to climb from runway 18 to 900 meters after take-off. Because air traffic control in the People's Republic of China only uses the meter as a unit of measurement for altitude , there was accordingly no additional mention in the standard international unit of feet .
In addition, the pilots were informed that the departure would have to take place according to the standard NHW procedure (SID NHW). The crew correctly entered this procedure into the aircraft's flight management computer (FMC). It initially provided for the overflight of an undirected radio beacon (NDB WB), which is about six kilometers in extension of the runway. The machine should then turn left onto a rotary radio beacon (BEFORE NHW) and fly over this as a second waypoint.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 took off from Runway 18 at Shanghai Airport at 4:02 p.m. local time. When the captain activated the autopilot at an altitude of 120 meters (400 feet ), he wrongly assumed that the machine would now immediately turn to the left towards the VOR NHW. The autopilot continued the climb to 900 meters, but correctly did not initiate a left turn because the first waypoint (NDB WB) had not yet been flown over. The pilots, who had not sufficiently familiarized themselves with the departure procedures, could not explain the failure to change course. While the crew was still distracted by this alleged problem, the copilot responsible for radio communications received the instruction from the tower at 16:02:26 h to contact departure control. At 16:02:51 hrs, this requested the pilots to turn left onto the NHW radio beacon and climb to 1500 meters. At the same time, the engine turned to the left, but did not climb because the master had changed the working mode of the autopilot in the meantime. Departure control therefore instructed the crew a second time at 16:03:18 to climb to 1,500 meters. The co-pilot passed the request to climb to the master, but without giving him any altitude information.
Only after the aircraft had started climbing did the captain ask about the approved altitude. The copilot then incorrectly gave him 1500 feet instead of 1500 meters twice. At this point the aircraft was at an altitude of approximately 1,350 meters, which corresponds to approximately 4,440 feet. Would in the false assumption that the machine that nearly 3,000 feet above the approved level are the captain reduced the engine power , the adjusted trimming the horizontal stabilizer in a top-heavy position (negative pitch ) and led to 16:04:19 am at an altitude From 1370 meters (4500 feet), an abrupt deflection of the elevator caused a very steep descent. The plane hit an industrial development area 16 seconds later, around twelve kilometers southwest of Shanghai Airport. The impact took place at a speed of almost 740 km / h (398 kts ) and at a negative angle of inclination of around 20 to 40 degrees.
Cause of accident
The examination of the wreckage did not reveal any evidence of damage to the aircraft or its flight-related systems prior to impact. The investigators also ruled out a malfunction of the autopilot or the flight management computer and a shift in the cargo.
According to the Chinese Aviation Authority (CAAC), the captain caused the accident by overreacting to the altitude incorrectly stated by the co-pilot in feet instead of meters. The exaggerated reaction of the captain was difficult for the investigators to understand, especially since the pilots had already received clearance for an initial climb to 900 meters (equivalent to around 2950 feet) and were thus above 1500 feet before the further climb began . Interception of the machine from the steep descent was initiated too late by the crew and made even more difficult by the top-heavy trim of the horizontal stabilizer. The Chinese investigators classified the accident as " controlled flight into terrain ".
The commission of inquiry criticized the inadequate and only superficial planning of the departure procedure, which had taken place in the cockpit and had been recorded by the voice recorder . The recordings made it clear that the master in particular had considerable difficulties in recording the height information and converting it from feet to meters. For example, the copilot had to point out that the initially approved altitude of 900 meters did not correspond to 1000 feet.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Civil Aviation Administration of China, Aircraft Accident Report: Korean Air Flight KE6316 , official accident report in English, accessed on January 14, 2017
- ↑ rzjets, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, HL7373 , accessed January 14, 2017
- ↑ Kevin Stokes, MD11 Operators - historical AL , accessed January 14, 2017
Coordinates: 31 ° 6 ′ 0 ″ N , 121 ° 22 ′ 16 ″ E