Sterling Airways Flight 901
| Sterling Airways Flight 901 | |
|---|---|
 A Sud Aviation Caravelle from Sterling Airways |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Structural failure |
| place | Near Tehran-Mehrabad Airport , Iran
|
| date | March 15, 1974 |
| Fatalities | 15th |
| Survivors | 81 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B3
|
| operator |
 Sterling Airways
|
| Mark |
OY-STK
|
| Departure airport |
Singapore Airport , Singapore
|
| Stopover |
Tehran Mehrabad Airport , Iran
|
| Destination airport |
Copenhagen Airport , Denmark
|
| Passengers | 92 |
| crew | 4th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
Sterling Airways Flight 901 (Flight number: NB901 ) was a charter flight of the Danish airline Sterling Airways from Singapore Airport to Copenhagen Airport with a stopover at the airport Tehran Mehrabad . On March 15, 1974, the Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B3 in use had an accident while taxiing at Tehran-Mehrabad airport, when suddenly the undercarriage broke due to material fatigue and a fire followed. Despite the evacuation, 15 passengers were killed.
machine
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B3 with the model serial number 266, which had completed its maiden flight on April 4, 1970 before it was delivered to Sterling Airways on May 6, 1970, where it was registered with the aircraft registration OY-STL was approved. The twin- engine medium - range narrow-body aircraft was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 engines. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was operating for 13,773 hours.
Crew and passengers
There were 96 people on board, including 92 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. The 38-year-old captain Leif Knud Jørgensen had flown Sterling Airways since 1967, was promoted to the rank of captain in 1970 and had 9,600 hours of flying experience. The Finnish first officer had 6,000 hours of flight experience. According to the Danish newspaper Politiken , the nationalities of the aircraft occupants and victims were as follows:
| nationality | Passengers | crew | total | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Denmark
|
46 | 3 | 49 | 7th |
 Sweden
|
36 | - | 36 | 8th |
 Germany
|
4th | - | 4th | - |
 Norway
|
2 | - | 2 | - |
 Finland
|
- | 1 | 1 | - |
|
France
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| total | 92 | 4th | 96 | 15th |
the accident
The plane had been chartered by the tour operator Tjæreborg to fly tourists on a tour of Asia. The journey began on March 2, 1974 in Copenhagen and served a number of cities including Shiraz , Bangkok , Hong Kong and New Delhi . One last refueling stop in Tehran was planned on the 14th day before the plane was supposed to fly back to Copenhagen. After refueling, the machine rolled to runway 29L. The right landing gear collapsed. The right wing tank was damaged. Kerosene leaked and ignited. The machine went up in flames. The passengers were evacuated via the left side of the aircraft. The four crew members and 81 passengers survived the incident, but eight Danish and seven Swedish passengers were killed.
Accident investigation
After the accident, the Danish Accident Investigation Authority sent a team of investigators, technical experts from the Danish police and forensic experts to Tehran to investigate the accident together with Iranian investigators and to identify the bodies of the victims.
At the beginning of the accident investigation, either material fatigue or a hydraulic defect was assumed to be the cause of the accident. In an interim report dated March 30, 1974, the investigators found that the cause of the accident had been the break in the right main landing gear, which damaged the wing tank and the kerosene leaked and caught fire. Progressive fatigue cracks in the area of the chassis suspension were identified as the specific cause of the accident.
swell
- Accident report Caravelle OY-STK in the Aviation Safety Network
- Operational history of the machine and accident report on Sudaviation.com
- Accident report on Flugkatastrofer.dk (Danish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erfaren besætning . In: Politiken , March 16, 1974.
- ↑ Sådan ended ferierejsen i en tragedie . In: Politiken , March 16, 1974.
- ↑ De omkomne . In: Politiken , March 17, 1974.
- ↑ Sådan ente ferierejsen i en tragediet . In: Politiken , March 16, 1974.
- ^ Peter Hertz: Caravelle-type under mistanke . In: Politiken , March 30, 1974.
Coordinates: 35 ° 41 ′ 29.6 ″ N , 51 ° 18 ′ 8 ″ E