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Boeing 707-320C accident report
On March 5, 1968, the 707-328C F-BLCJ "Chateau de Lavoute-Polignac" of Air France flies at full speed against the volcano La Soufriere, Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. It made a nightly VFR approach of RW11 from Le Raizet airport, (now Pole Caraïbe apt) Point-a-Pitre. Descends from the wrong point and collides at 1200m altitude against the densely wooded southern slope of La Grande Decouverte of La Soufriere, a dormant volcano, 25km SSW from Raizet airport and explodes immediately. A week later the wreck was still burning! FDR never found and because of the remote terrain, the cause of the disaster has never been fully understood. Concerned Flight 212 from Caracas (CCS) to Point-a-Pitre (PTP) with 49 passengers and 14 crew members. All perish.
c/n 19724, first flight : 1968, JT3D-3B engines, had only made 46 flight hours.
Cause: pilot had mistaken village Basse Terre for Point-a-Pitre and therefore made a wrong approach. (crash site +-500m 16°02'23"N 61°39'50"W )
On April 20, 1968, South African Airways 707-344C ZS-EUW crashed near Windhoek, Namibia. Flight 228/129 with 116 passengers and 12 crew members from Johannisburg (JNB) via Windhoek (WDH) to Luanda (LAD). Crash 1 min after TO RW08 J.G.Strijdom apt, Windhoek. Reached altitude of 180m but then started to descend again and crashed 5km past the runway east of the airport. (location =-1km 22°36'10"S 17°07'55"E ) Wreckage spread over 1.5 x 0.2 km. 123 dead and 5 wounded. c/n 19705 first flight : 1968 had only 238 flight hours. JT3D-7 engines. Crashed with ground speed of 271kts and a descent speed of 2000ft/min. The crew retracted the flaps too early after take-off and took back power. As a result, the plane began to descend, but the crew did not realize this in the dark without visual references.
January 22, 1973, the 707-3D3C c/n 20494 JY-ADO of Nigeria Airways, crashes near Kano, Nigeria. Charter from Jeddah(JED) to Lagos(LOS) with 193 pilgrims and 9 crew members. Had to divert to Kano because of the bad weather near Lagos. Landing gear broke off shortly after touch-down, due to an unevenness in the runway. Shoots off the track and catches fire. There are 176 deaths. Plane was rented from ALIA Royal Jordanian Airlines. 1st flight : 1971.
Was the worst air disaster so far. Location : +- 200m 12°02'56"N 8°31'13"E
On July 11, 1973, a fire broke out on board VARIG 707-345C PP-VJZ during the approach to Orly airport, near Paris. 124 of the 134 people on board are killed. Had taken off as flight 820 in Rio de Janeiro (RIO) for the 8830km long flight to Paris-Orly (ORY) with 117 passengers and 17 crew members. c/n 19841 first flight 1968 JT3D-3B engines. 5677 cycles, 21470 flying hours.
A burning cigarette in a trashcan in the toilet causes a fire. At 1:58 p.m. not far from Paris, the crew reports to ATC that there is a fire on board and that they need to make an emergency landing. Get permission to descend and are directed directly to RW07. The cabin quickly fills with smoke. The crew puts on their oxygen masks but can no longer read the instruments. They decide on an emergency landing. They crash land at 14.03 hours 5km in front of the RW with unfolded landing gear and flaps. Emergency landing successful but due to the fire many deaths. It was difficult to locate the fire. crash near Saulx-les-Chartreux (location +-500m 48°42'05"N 2°16'44"E )
De PanAm N797PA c/n 18767 at Dusseldorf, January 1975. A few months later it was sold to ALIA.
On August 3, 1975, the 707-321C JY-AEE of ALIA Royal Jordanian Airlines tragically comes to an end. It flies with 181 passengers and 7 crew members against a fog-shrouded mountain near Agadir, Morocco. NW of Amskroud. No one survived the impact.
JY-AEE c/n 18767 was formerly the N797PA of Panam, was sold to ALIA apr'75. 1 st flight 1964, 39749 hrs. JT3D-3B engines. crash 40 km NW of Agadir in the Atlas mountains. At 2400ft in fog against a mountain. The plane was loaned by ALIA to Royal Air Maroc for a charter. Flight from Paris (LBG) to Agadir (AGA). Transported guest workers who were on their way to Morocco for holidays. below minimum safe altitude, overloaded ? (location +- 3 km 30°33’53”N 9°24’02”W
On December 25, 1976, Egypt Air's 707-366C SU-AXA c/n 20763 crashed near Bangkok. Flight 864 from Cairo (CAI) to Bangkok (BKK) with 43 passengers and 9 crew members. Distance 7234km as the crow flies. Crew approached RW21L and had relayed that they had the runway in sight. For unclear reasons, the plane crashed into a factory, 2km NE from Bangkok – Don Muang Int'l airport. All occupants are killed and there are also 19 deaths on the ground.
Pilot made improper use of the approach equipment and had also taken pills that had a detrimental effect on his flying abilities.
1st flight : 1973 JT3D-7 engines. (location +-500m 13°56'40"N 100°37'31"E )
AP-AWZ approaching London-Heathrow (LHR), April 1976.
On November 26, 1979, a fire broke out in the back of the cabin of the 707-340C AP-AWZ. Pakistan International Airways flight 740 from Jeddah(JED) to Karachi(KHI). Fifteen minutes after the start, a flight attendant reports the fire. The crew immediately started a descent from FL300. Fifteen minutes later they give another mayday call but that is the last thing that is heard from the plane. It crashed 48km north of Taif in rocky area at 3000ft altitude, Saudi Arabia. All 145 passengers and 11 crew members are killed.
Cause of the fire could not be determined, 1st flight 1970 30710 hrs 4 x JT3D-3B engines. (location +-5km 21°42'N 40°25'E )
On January 3, 1987, VARIG 707-379C PP-VJK makes a failed emergency landing in the jungle 18km NE of Abidjan, Ivory Coast in the dark, after an engine failure. Of the 12 crew members and 39 passengers, only 1 survived the accident. Flight 797 from Abidjan (ABJ) to Rio de Janeiro (RIO). c/n 19822 first flight : 1968, JT3D-3B engines (location +-3km 5°22'43.5”N 3°45'28”W )
On November 29, 1987, a bomb goes off aboard Korean Airlines 707-3B5C HL7406. It crashes hopelessly into the Andaman Sea (Bay of Bengal) near Myanmar. All 115 passengers are killed. Flight 858 from Abu Dhabi (AUH) via Bangkok (BKK) to Seoul (SEL) with 11 crew members and 104 passengers. Crash in the sea 122km NW of Tavoy, Myanmar. Bomb with time igniter in radio set, sabotage by 2 passengers who got off in Abu Dhabi.
c/n 20522 first flight : 1971, 36047 flight hours during 19941 flights. JT3D-3B engines. (location +-5km 14°18'N 97°35'E )
On October 17, 1988, Uganda Airlines 707-338C 5X-UBC c/n 19630 crashed in the dark in dense fog at Fiumicino airport near Rome. Flight 775 from London Gatwick (LGW) to Rome-Fiumicino airport (FCO) with 45 passengers and 7 crew members. First approach of RW16L is aborted due to the poor visibility (RVR approx.400m). Also the 2nd approach, now of RW25 failed. During the third approach, now from RW34L in dense fog it flies too low and collides with the roof of a house 1300m SE of FCO . There are 33 deaths. The cause was that the crew did not follow the correct procedures (such as reading the flight altitude aloud) partly due to fatigue.
1st flight : 1968 57776 flight hours JT3D-3B engines. (location +-100m 41°46'28.31"N 12°14'48.34"E )
Saha Air 707-3J9C EP-SHE c/n 21127 overran on landing at Theran airport 20 April 2005. Flight IRZ171 with 157 pax and 12 crew. One of the last 707’s used for scheduled passenger flights. Following an uneventful flight from Kish Island, the aircraft landed by night on runway 29L at Tehran-Mehrabad Airport. After touchdown, the aircraft encountered technical difficulties (tyre burst ?) and was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran, went down an embankment and came to rest in the Kan River canal located about 200 metres from the runway 11R threshold. All undercarriage as well as the engine n°3 were torn off. The aircraft was written off. Three passengers died while 50 others were injured. The same aircraft was hijacked in September 1995. Many people broke arms and legs due to the emergency slides not working. Kish Island is a popular holiday resort. Location : +- 50m 35°41’42.41”N 51°17’23.28”E
safe flight hours till fatality : 15560 [hr] (5 service years)
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