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Coordinates: 26°17′51″N 50°38′49″E / 26.297500°N 50.646944°E / 26.297500; 50.646944
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Gulf Air Flight 072
A4O-EK, the aircraft involved, 1999
Accident
Date23 August 2000 (2000-08-23)
SummarySomatogravic illusion leading to pilot error and loss of situational awareness; Controlled flight into terrain[1]
SitePersian Gulf, 2 km (1.2 mi) north off Bahrain International Airport, Muharraq, Bahrain
26°17′51″N 50°38′49″E / 26.297500°N 50.646944°E / 26.297500; 50.646944[2]: 34 
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A320-212
OperatorGulf Air
IATA flight No.GF072
ICAO flight No.GFA072
Call signGULF AIR 072
RegistrationA4O-EK
Flight originCairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
DestinationBahrain International Airport, Muharraq, Bahrain
Occupants143
Passengers135
Crew8
Fatalities143
Survivors0

Gulf Air Flight 072 (GF072/GFA072)[a] was a scheduled international passenger flight from Cairo International Airport in Egypt to Bahrain International Airport in Bahrain, operated by Gulf Air. On 23 August 2000 at 19:30 Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3), the Airbus A320 crashed minutes after executing a go-around upon failed attempt to land on Runway 12. The flight crew suffered from spatial disorientation during the go-around and crashed into the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf 2 km (1 nmi) from the airport.[4] All 143 people on board the aircraft were killed.

The crash of Flight 072 remains the deadliest aviation accident in Bahraini territory,[1] and was the deadliest accident involving an Airbus A320 at the time, which was later surpassed by TAM Airlines Flight 3054, which crashed on 17 July 2007 with 199 fatalities.[5]

The final report was issued on 15 August 2002,[6] concluded that the individual factors contributed to the accident was non adherence to a number of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and loss of spatial and situational awareness by the aircraft crew during the approach and final phases of the flight. A number of systemic factors were also contributed to the accident, including deficiency in crew resource management (CRM) training by Gulf Air and safety oversights by the Directorate General Of Civil Aviation and Meteorology of Oman.[2]

Aircraft

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Flight 072 was operated with an Airbus A320-212, registered as A4O-EK with serial number 481. It first flew on 16 May 1994, and was delivered new to Gulf Air in September 1994.[7] It was powered by two CFM International CFM56-5A3 engines[8] and had accumulated 17,370 hours in 13,990 takeoff and landing cycles before the accident.[1][9] Its last maintenance was conducted on 17–18 August 2000. The aircraft was in compliance with all applicable airworthiness directives for the airframe and engines.[2]: 15–16 

Passengers and crew

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People on board by citizenship[10][11][12][13]
Nationality Passengers Crew Total
Australia 1 0 1
Bahrain 34 2 36
Canada 1 0 1
China 3 0 3
Egypt 63 1 64
India 0 1 1
Kuwait 1 0 1
Morocco 0 1 1
Oman 1 1[b] 2
Palestine 9 0 9
Philippines 0 1 1
Poland 0 1 1
Saudi Arabia 12 0 12
South Korea 1 0 1
Sudan 1 0 1
United Arab Emirates 6 0 6
United Kingdom 2 0 2
United States 1 0 1
Total (17 Nationalities) 135 8 143

The aircraft was carrying 135 passengers, 2 pilots, and 6 cabin crew members.[4] Among the 135 passengers were 61 men, 37 women and 37 children (including 8 infants).[2]: 26  Majority of the passengers were from Bahrain and Egypt. Most of the Egyptian passengers were expatriate families who were returning to their homes in the Gulf region after a holiday in Egypt[14]. One Egyptian who was supposed to board the flight was turned away by immigration officials in Cairo who found his passport was not stamped with the necessary Egyptian interior ministry permit for working abroad.[15]

The American Consulate in Bahrain confirmed that one American embassy courier, who reportedly was holding classified information, was on board Flight 092[16]. Palestinian government stated that 9 Palestinians from a single family was also on board[15]. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported that three Chinese workers from a news agency in Cairo were also onboard. They were on a stopover in Bahrain, and would have continued to China[17].

There were two pilots in the aircrew:[2]: 9–12 

  • The pilot-in-command was 37-year-old Bahraini Captain Ihsan Shakeeb.[18][19] He joined Gulf Air as a cadet pilot in 1989 and, after training he was promoted to first officer of the Lockheed L-1011 in 1994, first officer of the Boeing 767 in 1994, first officer of the Airbus A320 in 1998 and to captain of the Airbus A320 in 2000. Shakeeb had 4,416 hours of flying experience (including 1,083 hours on the Airbus A320),[9] of which 86 were as captain.[c]
  • The First Officer was 25-year-old Omani Khalaf al-Alawi.[18] He joined Gulf Air as a cadet pilot in 1999 and promoted to first officer of the Airbus A320 in 2000. Al-Alawi had logged 608 hours of flying experience, 408 of them on the Airbus A320.[2]: 12 [9]

Accident

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Flight 072 was a short-haul flight international passenger flight from Egypt's Cairo International Airport to the Bahraini capital of Manama. The flight, which would normally take two hours, was scheduled to take-off at 16:00 local time. Flight 072 departed from Cairo at 16:52 local time with 143 passengers and crew on board.

Approach

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The aircraft approached the landing at higher speeds than normal, initially at 313 knots (580 km/h; 360 mph) and then decreasing to 272 knots (504 km/h; 313 mph). At 19:22 Dammam approach gave the flight approval for self navigation to land on runway 02. First Officer al-Alawi then contacted Bahrain approach, informing that they would be landing on runway 02. The approach was too high and the flight crew carried out an unusual low altitude orbit in an attempt to correct the approach.[2]: 15–16, 87 [20]

Go-around and crash

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The orbit was unsuccessful and a go-around was attempted. While carrying out a turning climb, the aircraft entered a descent at 15 degrees nose down. The ground proximity warning system (GPWS) activated, first sounding a "sink rate" alarm and then nine "whoop whoop pull up" alarms, which continued to sound until impact. The aircrew did not respond to repeated GPWS warnings[2]: 88  and approximately one minute after starting the go-around the aircraft disappeared from radar screens.[21] At 19:30:02, the aircraft crashed into the sea. There were no survivors.[22]

Response

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United States Navy sailors assisting with the salvage operations of Gulf Air Flight 072

Bahraini government immediately dispatched members of the Bahraini Coast Guard and Civil Defense Agency. As the United States Navy Fifth Fleet was stationed in Manama's U.S. Commander of Naval Forces Central Command, the Bahraini Government immediately requested assistance from the United States for the search and rescue operation[23]. The US Navy deployed hundreds of its personnel to scour the crash site. US Navy support ship USNS Catawba was deployed with dive team, meanwhile the USS George Washington, which was docked in Manama at the time, sent 100 of its personnel to join the operation[24].. Canadian forces stationed in the Gulf was also initially asked to assist in the operation, however it was later called off[25].

Within hours of the crash, pieces of wreckage could be seen in the crash site, located in shallow waters approximately five kilometres off Manama Airport. The area of the crash site has depths of around 6–9 feet[26]. Rescuers managed to recover more than 50 bodies from the crash site. Dozens of ambulances were dispatched and the bodies of the victims were transported to Salmaniya Hospital, the nation's largest medical centre. Manama Airport was eventually cordoned off and authorities barred people from entering[25][27].

Crisis centres were set up in both Manama and Cairo. A special flight to Bahrain would later be arranged for the relatives, and accommodation would be provided at a hotel in Manama. Officials stated that trauma counsellors from Bahrain and Egypt would be provided for the next of kin. A trauma centre for the families was set up at the hotel, and services would be held to attend to their needs[28][29].

The hotel was also used for identification of the victims. Names of the victims were read out loud for the families, who were later taken into an undisclosed room to identify the victims. As several relatives began to cry in hysterics after several names had been read out, ambulances were put on standby, and medics were handed tranquillizers for the bereaved[30][31].

A national mourning period was declared by the Emir of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, for three days in Bahrain following the crash[32]. In Egypt and Bahrain, special praying services for the victims were held immediately after the crash. A national funeral service was eventually held on 25 August at Manama Grand Mosque, which was attended by high-ranking Bahraini officials, including then Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and members of the emirate. The funeral also drew thousands of Bahrainis[7][33]

In Egypt, officials stated that the government would provide every need for the relatives, particularly regarding repatriation and compensation. Egyptian Interior Ministry announced that travel documents would be provided for families who couldn't travel to Manama to retrieve their next of kin. High ranking officials also visited relatives in Cairo Airport's crisis centre and offered their condolences[34][35]. In Palestine, President Yasser Arafat expressed regret to the relatives of the victims and visited their homes to extend his condolences. Condolences also came from Iran and Qatar[36].

As of 24 August, the bodies of all 143 passengers and crews had been successfully recovered from the crash site. Authorities also managed to find the aircraft's flight recorders; both were found intact. Meanwhile, the US Navy announced that their personnel had been able to retrieve the classified yellow package that had been carried by its national from the crash site[37][24][38]

Gulf Air stated that victims would be compensated with $25,000 USD, which would also include repatriation of the victims to their respective countries. The amount would probably increase as soon as the investigation into the crash had finished. Gulf Air eventually offered to compensate a total of $125,000 USD for each adult victim and $80,000 USD for each minor victim, which were deemed by some of the relatives as inappropriate. Approximately three years after the crash, an out-of-court settlement was reached[39].

Investigation

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Cause of crash

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Poor CRM

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Oversight failure

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Conclusion

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The accident investigation concluded that the primary cause of the crash was pilot error (including spatial disorientation), with a secondary factor being systemic organizational and oversight issues.[2]

The investigation showed that no single factor was responsible for the accident to GF-072. The accident was the result of a fatal combination of many contributory factors, both at the individual and systemic levels.

  1. The individual factors particularly during the approach and final phases of the flight were:
    1. The captain did not adhere to a number of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), such as:
      1. significantly higher than standard aircraft speeds during the descent and the first approach
      2. not stabilising the approach on the correct approach path; performing an orbit, a non-standard maneuver, close to the runway at low altitude
      3. not performing the correct go-around procedure
      4. other related items
    2. In spite of a number of deviations from the standard flight parameters and profile, the first officer (PNF) did not call them out, or draw the attention of the captain to them, as required by SOPs.
    3. A perceptual study indicated that during the go-around after the orbit, it appears that the flight crew experienced spatial disorientation, which could have caused the captain to perceive (falsely) that the aircraft was 'pitching up' (Somatogravic illusion). He responded by making a 'nose-down' input, and as a result, the aircraft descended and flew into the shallow sea.
    4. Neither the captain nor the first officer perceived, or effectively responded to, the threat of increasing proximity to the ground, in spite of repeated hard GPWS warnings.
  2. The systemic factors, identified at the time of the above accident, which could have led to the above individual factors, were:
    1. Organisational factors (Gulf Air):
      1. A lack of training in CRM contributing to the flight crew not performing as an effective team in operating the aircraft.
      2. Inadequacy in the airline's A320 training programmes, such as: adherence to SOPs, CFIT, and GPWS responses.
      3. The airline's flight data analysis system was not functioning satisfactorily, and the flight safety department had a number of deficiencies.
      4. Cases of non-compliance, and inadequate or slow responses in taking corrective actions to rectify them, on the part of the airline in some critical regulatory areas, were identified during three years preceding the accident.
    2. Safety oversight factors:

A review of about three years preceding the accident indicated that despite intensive efforts, the DGCAM as a regulatory authority could not make the operator comply with some critical regulatory requirements.

The chairperson of the accident investigation board adopted the report on 10 July 2002.[2]: A1–A2 [40] The investigation showed that:

...during the go-around, as the captain was dealing with the flap over-speed situation, he applied a nose-down side-stick input, resulting in a nose-down pitch. While the aircraft was accelerating with TOGA power in total darkness, the somatogravic illusion could have caused the captain to perceive (falsely) that the aircraft was 'pitching up'. He would have responded by making a 'nose down' input. The aircraft descended and flew into the sea.[2]

Aftermath

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Gulf Air retired the Flight 072 (GF072) flight number and replaced it with Flight 070 (GF070) for inbound flights from Cairo to Bahrain.[41]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ GF is the IATA designator and GFA is the ICAO airline designator.[3]
  2. ^ The first officer.
  3. ^ The remaining 997 of his flight hours on the A320 were as first officer.[2]: 10 

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A320-212 A4O-EK Bahrain International Airport (BAH)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT Gulf Air Flight GF-072" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Bahrain. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 13 May 2019 – via SKYbrary.
  3. ^ "Gulf Air. Airline code, web site, phone, reviews and opinions". Airlines Inform. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Bodies recovered from Gulf Air crash". BBC News. BBC. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  5. ^ "23 August 2000 - Gulf Air 072". tailstrike. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Pilot's family fight to clear his name". Gulf Daily News. 7 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Clue to Gulf Air crash". BBC News. BBC. 25 August 2000. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Airbus's reliability record". BBC News. BBC. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "Crash of an Airbus A320 in Bahrain: 143 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  10. ^ Starr, Barbara; Masterman, Sue; Chang, Andrew (23 August 2000). "143 Bodies Recovered From Persian Gulf". ABC News. American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  11. ^ "143 Passengers Killed in Gulf Air Plane Crash off Bahrain". Al Bawaba. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  12. ^ Menon, Kesava (24 August 2000). "Indian crew member among victims in Gulf Air crash". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 July 2016.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Classified Material Recovered From Crash Site". ABC News. American Broadcasting Company. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  14. ^ "Only traces of the 143 killed in Bahrain plane crash remain in Gulf waters". Northern Nevada Business Weekly. 19 December 2001. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Relief amid Gulf crash tragedy". BBC News. BBC. 25 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Honoring DS Fallen: Seth Foti". Bureau of Diplomatic Security. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  17. ^ "ASTONISHMENT, TRAGIC STORIES OF GULF AIR VICTIMS COMING BACK TO CAIRO". KUNA. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  18. ^ a b "One of Bahrain's biggest tragedies" (PDF). Gulf Daily News. 23 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  19. ^ "'No pilot error' in Gulf crash". BBC News. BBC. 25 January 2000. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  20. ^ "ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT Gulf Air Flight GF-072". Civil Aviation Authority of Bahrain. Archived from the original on 12 February 2004.
  21. ^ "Airbus A320 A4O-EK accident record – Graphic – A40-EK Flight Path derived from Lat and Long FDR Parameters". Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety – via Aviation Safety Network.
  22. ^ "pe_03.html". CBS News. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Gulf Air begins crash investigation". UPI. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Gulf Air crash: 'black boxes' recovered". The Guardian. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Jet crashes into Persian Gulf". The Globe and Mail. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  26. ^ "Families mourn crash victims". Deseret News. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  27. ^ "Gulf Air flight crashes with 143 aboard; 55 bodies found". UPI. 23 August 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  28. ^ "143 Passengers Killed in Gulf Air Plane Crash off Bahrain". Al Bawaba. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Families of Gulf crash dead arrive to identify loved ones". The Irish Times. 25 August 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  30. ^ "Second Recorder Recovered in Bahrain Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  31. ^ "Egypt suffers second blow". BBC. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  32. ^ "Families mourn crash victims". Deseret News. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  33. ^ "'No pilot error' in Gulf crash". BBC. 25 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  34. ^ "Egypt crash victims flown home". UPI. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  35. ^ "Egyptian Relatives of Crash Victims Travel to Bahrain". UPI. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  36. ^ "Emir of Qatar Condoles Arab Leaders Saddened by Plane Crash". KUNA. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  37. ^ "143 Bodies Recovered From Persian Gulf". ABC News. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  38. ^ "Classified Material Recovered From Crash Site". ABC News. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  39. ^ "Crash victims' families, Gulf Air reach out of court settlement". Gulf News. 4 December 2003. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  40. ^ "Appendix A." Final Accident Report.
  41. ^ "Flight history for Gulf Air flight GF70". Flightradar24. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
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