UPS Flight 1354
A UPS Airbus A300 descended below minimum altitude on a nighttime approach to Birmingham and struck trees short of runway 18. Both pilots died.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report
Causes
Controlled flight into terrain in airline accidents
Official investigators identified controlled flight into terrain in 6 of the incidents we cover, from 1979 to 2013. Each account explains how it arose in that case. A shared topic does not mean the same cause.
Last updated
| Date | Flight | Aircraft | Location | Fatalities | Report status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 August 2013 | UPS Flight 1354 | Airbus A300-600F (A300 F4-622R) | North of runway 18, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, Alabama | 2 flight crewmembers; 0 people on the ground | LEVEL 3 Final report |
| 24 November 2001 | Crossair 3597 | AVRO 146-RJ100 | Geissbühl, municipality of Bassersdorf, Switzerland | 24: 21 passengers and three crew | LEVEL 3 Final report |
| 6 August 1997 | Korean Air Flight 801 | Boeing 747-3B5B (747-300) | Nimitz Hill, Guam, about 3.3 nautical miles from runway 6L | 228 | LEVEL 3 Final report |
| 20 January 1992 | Air Inter 148 | Airbus A320-111 | La Bloss near Mont Sainte-Odile, France | 87: 82 passengers and 5 crew | LEVEL 3 Final report |
| 19 October 1986 | Mozambique Presidential Tu-134 C9-CAA | Tupolev 134A-3 | Mbuzini, South Africa, about 35 nautical miles west of Maputo Airport | 34 in the accident statistics. One seriously injured passenger died on 5 January 1987. | LEVEL 3 Final report |
| 28 November 1979 | Air New Zealand 901 | McDonnell-Douglas DC10-30 | Northern slopes of Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica | 257 | LEVEL 3 Final report |
Crossair 3597
The crew continued below the minimum descent altitude on approach to Zurich and began a go-around two seconds before striking trees.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report
Korean Air Flight 801
A Boeing 747 descended below the localizer approach altitudes at Guam and struck Nimitz Hill. The NTSB found failures in briefing, monitoring, training and ground altitude warnings.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report
Air Inter 148
An Airbus A320 descended into La Bloss during a night approach to Strasbourg. The crew failed to detect a descent rate of about 3,300 feet per minute.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report
Mozambique Presidential Tu-134 C9-CAA
President Samora Machel's aircraft turned west during descent to Maputo and struck hills at Mbuzini. The South African board blamed approach procedures and the ignored terrain warning.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report
Air New Zealand 901
A changed navigation waypoint led ZK-NZP towards Mount Erebus. The Royal Commission found that whiteout conditions concealed the rising terrain from the crew.
Incident date:
LEVEL 3 Final report