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Boeing 707-320B accident report
On December 12, 1968, the brand new 707-321B N494PA "Clipper Malay" c/n 19696 of the Pan Am crashed during nightly VFR approach over water to Maiqueta airport, Caracas, Venezuela. Flight 217 New York (JFK) to Caracas (CCS) with 42 passengers and 11 crew members, crashed for unexplained reasons into the sea 15km off the coast, 18km north of Caracas. All 51 passengers are killed. Wreck 110m deep. FDR salvaged. Cause perhaps optical illusion caused by city lights on a slope. Engines : JT3D-3B 1st flight : 1968. Location : +-1km 10°39'N 66°52'W
Almost exactly one year later, on December 3, 1969, another 707-320B crashed near Caracas. This time 707-328B F-BHSZ c/n 18459 of Air France dives into the sea shortly after departure at night from Caracas from 1000m altitude, 6.5km from Caracas. Had taken off with 41 passengers and 21 crew members to Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP) as flight 212. No one survived the disaster. Wreckage lay in 50m deep water. Engines : JT3D-3B first flight : 1963. Location : +-500m 10°37'44"N 66°55'48"W
On July 22, 1973, the 707-312B N417PA "Clipper Winged Racer" c/n 1899 of the Pan Am 3km from Papeete, Tahiti plunges into the sea. It took off as flight PA816 from RW04 Papeete (PPT) with destination Honolulu (HNL), as the crow flies 4383km, with 69 passengers and 10 crew members. At 100m altitude, the plane started a turn. However, plane starts to descend and turns on its side, after which it dives into 700m deep water. There is only 1 survivor. The CVR and FDR could not be salvaged. Possible cause: maybe an instrument was defective that distracted the crew so that they did not realize that they were coming into too sharp a turn bank. It was dark at the time of the accident and above the water it was difficult to orientate yourself. Engines : JT3D-3B first flight : 1966 Location : +-500m 17°31'12"S 149°35'14"W
On December 17, 1973, an attack was made on Pan Am 707-321B N407PA c/n 18838 "Clipper Celestial" in which 30 of the 177 passengers died.
Five terrorists entered the departure hall at Rome Fiumicino airport and fired their weapons. They took 6 people hostage and threw grenades into the Panam 707 where the passengers were boarding for a flight to Beirut. The terrorists killed a guard and hijacked a Lufthansa Boeing 737. The hijackers ended up in Kuwait where they surrendered on 18 December.
1st flight : 1965 engines : JT3D-3B Location : +-200m 41°47'45"N 12°14'57"E
On January 30, 1974, the fourth Pan Am 707-321B is lost! The N454PA "Clipper Radiant" c/n 19376 makes a crash landing 1200m off the runway at Pago Pago, American Samoa by windshear caused by a heavy rain shower. There are 97 deaths. Concerned flight 806 from Auckland (AKL) to Pago Pago (PPG) with 91 passengers and 10 crew members.
Engines : JT3D-3B first flight : 1967 21625 flight hours Location : +-100m 14°20'45"S 170°44'14"W
PanAm N446PA pictured a few days before it crashed at Bali
On April 22, 1974, the 707-321B N446PA "Clipper Climax" of Pan Am crashed in Bali. The fifth Pan Am 707-321B that crashed ! On November 3, 1973, a 707-321C was also lost! This was a disastrous period for the Pan Am, in less than a year, from July 1973 to April 1974, there were 5 fatal PanAm 707 accidents. A dramatic safety record. This accident involved flight 812 from Hong Kong (HKG) to Denpasar (DPS) in Bali with 96 passengers and 11 crew members. The crew misjudges the approach of RW09 to Denpasar and flies against a densely wooded slope, 100m below the top of the 1458m high Mt.Mesehe. 107 deaths. The wreck was difficult to reach and only after many hours were the first rescuers on the spot. Crash 68km NW of Denpasar. c/n 19268 1st flight : 1966, 28000 flight hours made during 9150 flights. JT3D-3B engines. Premature execution of a right-hand turn, visual illusion related to the black-hole phenomenon. Location : +-5km 8°15’S 114°46’E
On September 08, 1974, TWA's Boeing 707-331B N8734 c/n 20063 crashes into the Ionian Sea after a bomb explosion in the cargo hold at FL280. The explosion trapped or malfunctioned the control cables, making the aircraft uncontrollable. All 88 passengers are killed. off Kefallinia, 93km west of Cephalonia, Greece. Flight TW841 avn Athens(ATH) to Rome (ROM) with 79 passengers and 9 crew members. 1st flight : 1969 21733 flight hours JT3D-3B engines. Location : +-3km 38°14'N 19°27'E
Thursday 20 April 1978 Korean Airlines Boeing 707-321B HL7429 s/n 19363
Flight KE902 from Paris-Orly (ORY) via Anchorage (ANC) to Seoul (SEL) with 12 crew and 97 passengers. Due to navigation error the 707 ended up over Russian airspace. Russian radar picked up the airliner and two Sukhoi Su-15TM fighter-jets scrambled for interception. The Su-15 pilots identified the aircraft as an civil airliner however were ordered by there superiors to shoot it down. Two Vympel R-60 rockets were launched, one missed but the other hit the outer left wing tip and exploded causing a rapid decompression which killed two passengers. The 707 made an emergency descent over the Kola Peninsula and managed to make a successful emergency landing on the ice covered Korpijarvi Lake. All on board were rescued by Russian helicopters. First flight : 1967 engines : JT3D-3B location : +-1 km 65°14’02”N 30°31’52”E
literature : Boeing 707-321B | This Day in Aviation
N7231T photographed at Schiphol in 1985.
February 8, 1989, independent air's 707-331B N7231T c/n 19572 flies into a mountain in the Azores. None of the 144 occupants survived the impact.
It was as flight 1851 departed from Bergamo (BGY) to fly via Santa Maria (SMA) in the Azores to Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic with 137 passengers and 7 crew members. On the approach of RW19 on Santa Maria, however, things go wrong and the jetliner flies at 1794ft altitude against the Pico Alto. Location : +-200m 36°58'59.40N 25°05'27.58"W
1st flight : 1968 total 12589 flights 44755 flight hours engines : JT3D-3B(HK)
cause : crew approached too low at 2000ft despite it being clearly indicated on maps that minimum approach altitude is 3000ft. In addition, ATC passed on a wrong QNH (local air pressure) so that the altimeter was incorrectly adjusted in the aircraft. There was also miscommunication between the co-pilot and ATC.
AVIANCA's 707-321B HK2016 c/n 19276 runs out of fuel on January 25, 1990 6 minutes before landing at New York JFK airport and crashed at Cove Neck, on the north side of Long Island. Of the 149 passengers and 9 crew, 73 were killed.
Was kept 1hr17min in holding pattern, cause : no alert to ATC short on fuel, windshear and crew fatigue. 1st ILS landing attempt RW22L fails, due to bad weather (fog) they did not see the runway and windshear pushed the aircraft under the glide path. Sent too far by ATC for a 2nd attempt. ATC was not very aware of the urgent fuel problem, also due to shift changes and miscommunication. Performed flight AV52 between Medellin(MDE), Colombia and New York(JFK), a distance of 3814km as the crow flies. Had taken off with 81000lb of fuel. Location : +-5m 40°52'47.99"N 73°29'43.53"W As the crow flies 800m from Sagamore Hill where the house where Theodore Roosevelt once lived stands.
1st flight : 1967 61196 flight hours engines : JT3D-3B
Cabin layout of the AVIANCA 707-321B that crashed near Cove Neck in January 1990. seating for 132 economy (22 x 6) and 16 business seats.
safe flight hours till fatality : 16402 [hr] (5 service years)