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Lauda Air Flight 004

Coordinates: 14°57′N 99°27′E / 14.950°N 99.450°E / 14.950; 99.450
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Lauda Air Flight 004
A Boeing 767-300ER similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date26 May 1991
SummaryIn-flight uncommanded deployment of thrust reverser
SitePhu Toei National Park, Amphoe Dan Chang, Suphanburi Province, Thailand
Aircraft typeBoeing 767-3Z9ER
Aircraft nameMozart
OperatorLauda Air
RegistrationOE-LAVdisaster
Flight originKai Tak Airport, Hong Kong
Last stopoverDon Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
DestinationVienna International Airport, Vienna, Austria
Passengers213
Crew10
Fatalities223 (all)
Injuries0
Survivors0
Lauda Air Flight 004 memorial

Lauda Air Flight 004 was an international passenger flight that crashed due to a thrust reverser deployment of the number 1 engine in flight.

History of the flight

On 26 May 1991, at 23:02 local time, Flight NG004 (originating from Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport), a Boeing 767-3Z9ER, registration OE-LAV, ship name Mozart, took off from Old Bangkok International Airport (Don Mueang International Airport) for its flight to Vienna International Airport with 213 passengers and 10 crew, under the command of Captain Thomas J. Welch (American) and First Officer Josef Thurner (Austrian).

At 23:08, Welch and Thurner received a visual warning indicating that a possible system failure would cause the thrust reverser on the number 1 engine to deploy in flight. Having consulted the aircraft's Quick Reference Handbook, they determined that it was "just an advisory thing" and took no action.[1]

At 23:17, the thrust reverser on the number 1 engine deployed while the plane was over mountainous jungle terrain in the border area between Suphanburi and Uthai Thani provinces, Thailand. Thurner's last recorded words were, "Oh, reverser's deployed!".[2][3]

The 767 stalled in mid-air and disintegrated at 4,000 feet (1,200 meters). Most of the wreckage was scattered over a remote forest area roughly 1 km2 in size, at an elevation of 600 m above sea level, in what is now Phu Toei National Park, Suphanburi. The wreckage site is about three nautical miles north northeast of Phu Toey, Huay Kamin, Dan Chang District, Suphan Buri Province.[4] Hikers arrived at the crash site and took footage of the wreckage.

None of the 223 passengers and crew aboard the airliner survived. It was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 767. The accident remains the deadliest aviation disaster on Thai soil to date, and the deadliest 767 crash. Rescuers found the body of Welch still in the pilot's seat.[5] After the accident, scavengers collected electronics and jewellery.[6] About one quarter of the airline's carrying capacity vanished as a result of the crash.[7]

Upon hearing of the crash, Niki Lauda, retired Formula 1 race driver and owner of the airline, travelled to Thailand. He examined the wreckage and concluded that the largest fragment was about 5 metres (16 ft) by 2 metres (6.6 ft), "about half the size of the largest piece in the Lockerbie crash." [8] As evidence started to point towards the thrust reversers as the cause of the accident, he made simulator flights at Gatwick Airport which appeared to show that deployment of a thrust reverser was a survivable incident. Lauda said that the thrust reverser could not be the sole cause of the crash.[9] The accident report states that the "flightcrew training simulators yielded erroneous results"[10] and stated that recovery from the loss of lift from the reverser deployment "was uncontrollable for an unexpecting flight crew".[11] The incident led Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system (with synch-locks) to prevent similar occurrences.[12]

Aviation writer Macarthur Job has noted that, "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were mechanically rather than electronically controlled, then that accident could not have happened." [2]

At the crash site, which is accessible to national park visitors, a shrine was later erected to commemorate the victims.[13] Another memorial and cemetery is located near Ban Tha Sadet, some 90 km away in Amphoe Mueang Suphanburi.[14]

Passengers

The passengers were of 83 nationalities. The passengers and crew included 83 Austrians. Of the passengers, 125 had boarded in Hong Kong, while the rest boarded in Bangkok.[15]

Notable victims

  • Donald McIntosh, a 43-year old British senior United Nations anti-drug official posted in Bangkok. His death caused Austrian newspapers to post initial speculation stating that people bombed the airplane to kill him; a UN spokesperson said that he was not on a secret mission and could not have been a target of an assassination. This story is doubtful considering the role of McIntosh, regardless of any "secret mission", and the presence of another anti-drug activist on the flight, Dr. Pairat Decharin.[5][15]
  • Pairat Decharin, the governor of Chiang Mai Province, and his wife.[5][16]

Assassination Theory

Some sources indicate this crash was a successful assassination attempt by corrupt Thai officials involved in the drug trade. Their targets were both Dr. Pairat Decharin, governor of Chiang Mai Province and noted anti-corruption, anti-drug activist, and Donald McIntosh, a senior United Nations anti-drug official. Decharin and McIntosh were traveling separately on unrelated matters, making the fight a perfect target. This theory is supported by the fact that Bangkok's Don Meuang airport is shared with the Thai air force, allowing them access to secured areas. [17] Indeed, Niki Lauda, pilot and owner of the airline, agreed that the deployment of the thrust reverser alone would not have been sufficient to down the aircraft. [9] It is also important to note that the accident investigation, which completely ignored the presence of two such notable officials, was conducted solely by Thai officials.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
  2. ^ a b Job, Macarthur (1996). Air Disaster Volume 2, Aerospace Publications, ISBN 1-875671-19-6: pp.203-217
  3. ^ Accident Report, Appendix A, page 55
  4. ^ Accident Report
  5. ^ a b c "UN drug man 'not Thai bomb target'." The Independent. Thursday 30 May 1991.
  6. ^ Johnson, Sharen Shaw. "Scavengers complicate crash probe." USA Today. 29 May 1991. News 4A.
  7. ^ Traynor, Ian. "Lauda's driving ambition brings triumph and disaster in tandem." The Independent. 28 May 1991.
  8. ^ "Looting may have hidden clues to crash." The Advertiser. Thursday 30 May 1991.
  9. ^ a b New York Times - 'Owner Rejects Thrust as Cause of Air Crash'
  10. ^ Accident Report, section 2.3, page 21
  11. ^ Accident Report, section 3.1, 9, page 41
  12. ^ Lane, Polly. "Boeing Tells 757 Owners To Replace Part -- Faulty Thrust-Reverser Valve Blamed In 767 Accident That Killed 223". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Paknam Web - Phu Toei National Park
  14. ^ Paknam Web - Lauda Air Cemetery
  15. ^ a b Traynor, Irian, Nick Cumming-Bruce, and Steve Vines. "Crash teams investigate plane blast." The Independent. 28 May 1991.
  16. ^ Study In Thailand: Religion-Psychical Orientation (Pairat Decharin Briefly Mentioned)
  17. ^ "Thai Prime Minister Assassination Target in Plane Fire." Reocities. Retrieved on 21 December 2012.

References

14°57′N 99°27′E / 14.950°N 99.450°E / 14.950; 99.450

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