Olympic Airways Flight 954

Olympic Airways Flight 954
	A Olympic Airways DC-6, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	December 8, 1969
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Site	Near Keratea, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-6B
Aircraft name	Isle of Corfu
Operator	Olympic Airways
Registration	SX-DAE
Flight origin	Chania International Airport
Destination	Athens-Ellinikon International Airport
Occupants	90
Passengers	85
Crew	5
Fatalities	90
Survivors	0

Olympic Airways Flight 954 was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that crashed into a mountain near Keratea (approx. coordinates 37°48' N, 23°57' E), Greece, on December 8, 1969. All 85 passengers and 5 crew on board died in the crash.

The crash

The flight was a domestic scheduled passenger service from Chania on the island of Crete to Athens. While on approach to Athens and with its undercarriage retracted, the aircraft struck Mount Paneio at an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet. The weather at the time of the crash was characterized by rain and high winds.

The crash of Flight 954 was the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history at the time it took place, a record it maintained until the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522 nearly thirty-six years later. It is still the deadliest aviation accident involving a Douglas DC-6,^[1] and the deadliest crash in the history of Olympic Airways.

Cause

It was ruled that the flight crew had deviated from the proper track and descended below the minimum safe altitude while making an ILS approach.^[2]

References

^ Aircraft accident Douglas DC-6B SX-DAE Athens
^ Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 91.

External links

1969 Keratea Olympic Airlines DC-6 crash at AirDisaster.com^[usurped]

37°48′N 23°58′E / 37.800°N 23.967°E / 37.800; 23.967

[1] Aircraft accident Douglas DC-6B SX-DAE Athens

[2] Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 91.

[1]

[2]

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece
1960s-1970s	El Al Flight 253 attack (December 1968) Olympic Airways Flight 954 (December 1969) Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking (July 1970) Lufthansa Flight 303 (December 1973) Olympic Airways Flight 830 (November 1976) Olympic Airways Flight 411 (August 1978) Swissair Flight 316 (October 1979)
1980s-1990s	Trans World Airlines Flight 847 (June 1985) TWA Flight 840 bombing (April 1986) Olympic Aviation Flight 545 (August 1989) Aerosvit Flight 241 (December 1997)
Since 2000	Malév Flight 262 (July 2000) Helios Airways Flight 522 (August 2005) Turkish Airlines Flight 1476 (October 2006) Meridian Flight 3032 (July 2022)
See List of aviation accidents and incidents in Greece Crashes in water near Greece: Cyprus Airways Flight 284 (October 1967) · TWA Flight 841 (September 1974)