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Flying Tiger Line Flight 66

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(Redirected from Flying Tiger Line Flight 066) 1989 cargo plane crash in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Flying Tiger Line Flight 66
N807FT, the aircraft involved in the accident, October 1980
Accident
DateFebruary 19, 1989 (1989-02-19)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SitePuchong, 12 km (7.5 mi; 6.5 nmi) from Kuala Lumpur International Airport
3°00′55″N 101°38′20″E / 3.0153°N 101.6389°E / 3.0153; 101.6389
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-249F-SCD
Aircraft nameThomas Haywood
OperatorFlying Tiger Line
IATA flight No.FT66
ICAO flight No.FTL66
Call signTIGER 66
RegistrationN807FT
Flight originSingapore Changi Airport, Changi, Singapore
StopoverKuala Lumpur International Airport, Subang, Selangor, Malaysia
DestinationKai Tak Airport, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Occupants4
Passengers1
Crew3
Fatalities4
Survivors0

Flying Tiger Line Flight 66 was a scheduled international cargo flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport via a stopover at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. On February 19, 1989, the FedEx-owned Boeing 747-249F-SCD crashed while on its final approach. The aircraft impacted a hillside 437 ft (133 m) above sea level and 12 km (7.5 mi; 6.5 nmi) from Kuala Lumpur, resulting in all four occupants being killed.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft, registered as N807FT, made its first flight on 1 November 1979, before being delivered new to Flying Tiger Line on 11 December 1979. Its manufacturer serial number was 21828 and its construction number was 408. At the time of the accident, it had flown over 9,000 flight cycles and 34,000 airframe hours.

The crew consisted of Captain Francis "Frank" Halpin (59), First Officer John "Jack" Robinson (54), and Flight Engineer Ronald Penton (70). Leonard Sulewski (53), an aircraft mechanic, was also on board.

Accident

The aircraft was assigned a non-directional beacon (NDB) approach to Runway 33 at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Kuala Lumpur, after having flown 30 minutes from Singapore Changi Airport. In descent, the flight was cleared to "Kayell" with a Morse code of "KL" of which four separate points on the ground were commonly called by Malaysian ATC, albeit with different frequencies. Two separate radio beacons were identically coded "KL", as well as the VOR abbreviation (Kuala Lumpur shortened to "KL") and the airport was also sometimes referred to as "KL" by local ATC (instead of the full "Kuala Lumpur"). The crew was unsure to which point they were cleared, and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) revealed that the crew argued about which radios should be set to which frequencies and which approach was actually going to be conducted. (Even in the last few moments of the flight, the captain referenced the ILS approach for runway 33, which was named as inoperable on the flight release and the ATIS; additionally the crew was told by ATC that the ILS approach was not available.)

Air traffic control (ATC) radioed to the flight, "Tiger 66, descend two four zero zero (about 2,400 ft (730 m)), cleared for NDB approach runway 33." Captain Halpin, who interpreted it as "descend to four zero zero" replied with, "Okay, four zero zero" (meaning 400 ft (120 m)) above sea level, which was 2,000 ft (610 m) too low). The CVR also revealed several communication errors made by the flight crew prior to this miscommunication and a general casual nature of the captain, who was the pilot-not-flying on this particular leg of the trip.

During the final approach, numerous clear warnings were given by the on-board ground proximity warning system, which were all ignored entirely by the crew, and the aircraft hit a hillside 437 ft (133 m) above sea level, killing all four crew on board - two pilots, a flight engineer, and an aircraft mechanic. The subsequent fire burned for two days.

Causes

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The first officer (FO) had complained that he did not have an approach plate in front of him and had not seen the approach. From a pilot's perspective, this alone would be considered the cause of the crash because the approach plate (chart) provides the pilot with the courses and minimum altitudes necessary to execute the approach without hitting terrain. The chart would have indicated the minimum descent altitude of 2,400 ft (730 m), preventing the accident.

Additionally, the FO, who was the pilot flying at the time, expressed concern about conducting the NDB approach and indicated a preference for the ILS for runway 15. The FO was not assertive, though, and no further action was taken. The captain dismissed his concern, saying he was familiar with the airport and the approaches.

A contributing factor to this accident was the non-ICAO phraseology used by Kuala Lumpur ATC and the captain of the aircraft. This breakdown of communication contributed to the crew misinterpreting the instructions given. This particular controlled-flight-into-terrain accident, however, ultimately resulted from a crew failure to adhere to the instrument approach procedure, poor crew resource management, and poor situational awareness.

Procedure changes

The incident further stressed the need for increased awareness and training of crew resource-management techniques and standard operating procedures. This accident is used as an example of "what not to do" by flight-training organizations. The FAA video production using the original CVR recording and transcript is still used to study the events and how to improve current techniques.

See also

References

  1. "FAA Registry (N807FT)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. "Safety Recommendation A-89-022". NTSB. FAA. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  3. "REPORT ON THE ACCIDENT OF THE BOEING 747-200 (N807FT) AT 9.8 NM SOUTH EAST OF SUBANG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA, ON 18 FEBRUARY 1989" (PDF) (Final report). Department of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transport. 1990-07-01. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  4. "N807FT Flying Tiger Line Boeing 747-200". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  5. "Flying Tigers N807FT (Boeing 747 - MSN 21828)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  6. "4 AMERICANS DIE IN CRASH OF CARGO PLANE IN MALAYSIA". The Washington Post. 1989-02-19. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  7. Maniam, Hari S. (1989-02-20). "Four Americans Killed In Plane Crash In Malaysia". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  8. "Westlake Village Man Piloted Crashed Plane". Los Angeles Times. 1989-02-20. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  9. ^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
  10. ^ "Aviation Video: Tiger-66 | Patrick's Aviation". Patricksaviation.com. 2008-12-22. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  • Aviation Week & Space Technology 27.02.89 (24)
  • Flight Int. 17-12.01.1990 (p. 44)
  • ICAO Adrep Summary
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1989 (1989)
Jan 4 Air battle near TobrukJan 8 Kegworth air disasterFeb 8 Independent Air Flight 1851Feb 19 Flying Tiger Line Flight 66Feb 24 United Airlines Flight 811Mar 10 Air Ontario Flight 1363Mar 18 Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17Mar 21 Transbrasil Flight 801Apr 10 Uni-Air International Flight 602Jun 7 Surinam Airways Flight 764Jun 17 Interflug Flight 102Jul 4 Belgium MiG-23 crashJul 19 United Airlines Flight 232Jul 21 Philippine Airlines Flight 124Jul 27 Korean Air Flight 803Aug 3 Olympic Aviation Flight 545Aug 13 Alice Springs hot air balloon crashAug 15 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510Aug 25 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 404Sep 3 Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046Sep 3 Varig Flight 254Sep 8 Partnair Flight 394Sep 19 UTA Flight 772Sep 20 USAir Flight 5050Oct 18 Soviet Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crashOct 21 TAN-SAHSA Flight 414Oct 26 China Airlines Flight 204Oct 28 Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712Nov 21 Aeroflot Flight 37577Nov 25 Korean Air Flight 175Nov 27 Avianca Flight 203Nov 27 Angola Lockheed L-100 crashDec 15 KLM Flight 867Dec 26 United Express Flight 2415
1988   ◄    ►   1990
Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia
1970s
1980s
1990s
2010s
2020s


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