Thai Airways Flight 231
| Thai Airways Flight 231 | |
|---|---|
 The unlucky machine in 1976 |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Weather-related crash on approach |
| place | near Don Mueang Airport |
| date | April 27, 1980 |
| Fatalities | 44 (including all 4 crew members) |
| Survivors | 9 |
| Injured | 9 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 |
| operator | Thai Airways Company |
| Mark | HS-THB |
| Departure airport | Khon Kaen Airport |
| Destination airport | Don Mueang Airport |
| Passengers | 49 |
| crew | 4th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
Thai Airways flight 231 was a scheduled domestic flight of the Thai airline Thai Airways Company from Khon Kaen to Bangkok , on which a Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 crashed on April 27, 1980 near Don Mueang Airport.
plane
The Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 aircraft with the aircraft registration HS-THB and factory number 1568 was built in 1964. The aircraft had completed 12,791 flight hours by the time it crashed.
course
As the aircraft approached runway 21R of Bangkok Don Mueang Airport on approach, it was caught in a severe thunderstorm at an altitude of 1,500 feet (450 meters ) above the ground. The aircraft was caught in a downwind and knocked to the ground. It hit angled slightly to the right, slid around 155 meters and broke. The machine was completely destroyed; 40 of the 49 passengers and the crew of four were killed.
Possible causes of the accident
The following causes could have led to the accident:
- The weather radar on board was not used.
- There was no change to the ATIS "Special Weather Report" frequency. The crew therefore received no information about the thunderstorm.
- The pilots believed that flying with radar vectors was safe and that air traffic control would not direct the aircraft into a thunderstorm.
- The pilots did not notice that there was a second thunderstorm on the approach besides the one they had observed.
Web links
- Accident report HS-748 HS-THB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 3, 2018.