Surinam Airways Flight 764

Coordinates: 5°27′12″N 55°13′47″W / 5.45333°N 55.22972°W / 5.45333; -55.22972
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Surinam Airways Flight 764
N1809E, the aircraft involved in the accident, in February 1989.
Accident
Date7 June 1989
SummaryControlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
SiteNear Johan Adolf Pengel Int'l Airport, Zanderij, Suriname
5°27′12″N 55°13′47″W / 5.45333°N 55.22972°W / 5.45333; -55.22972
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-8-62
Aircraft nameAnthony Nesty
OperatorSurinam Airways
IATA flight No.PY764
ICAO flight No.SLM764
Call signSURINAM 764
RegistrationN1809E
Flight originAmsterdam Airport Schiphol
Amsterdam, Netherlands
DestinationJohan Adolf Pengel Int'l Airport
Paramaribo, Suriname
Occupants187
Passengers178
Crew9
Fatalities176
Injuries9
Survivors11

Surinam Airways Flight 764 was an international scheduled passenger flight from

Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname on a Surinam Airways DC-8-62
. On Wednesday 7 June 1989, the flight crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij, killing 176 of the 187 on board. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in Suriname's history.

Investigation revealed significant deficiencies in the crew's training and judgement. They knowingly attempted to land using an inappropriate navigation signal and ignored alarms warning them of an impending crash. The safety issues stemming from the incident were of such concern that the United States

Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA).

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft (named Anthony Nesty in honor of the Olympic swimmer)[1][2] was a four-engined McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 passenger jet which had first flown in 1969[1] as part of the air fleet of Braniff International Airways. An NTSB brief[3] shows that while the aircraft was owned by Braniff it was involved in a minor accident in 1979 in which there were no fatalities. The aircraft was sold to Surinam Airways shortly afterwards. The official report into the crash of Flight 764 made no indication that this previous incident contributed in any way to the subsequent fatal crash.[4]

The flight crew consisted of Captain Wilbert "Will" Rogers (66), First Officer Glyn Tobias (34) and Flight Engineer Warren Rose (65). Captain Rogers had a total of 19,450 flight hours, including 8,800 hours on the DC-8. The first officer and flight engineer had 6,600 flight hours and 26,600 flight hours respectively. The flight engineer also had 720 flight hours on the DC-8. There were six flight attendants on board.[5]

History of the flight

The flight departed Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as scheduled at 23:25 on 6 June. The next ten hours of the flight passed uneventfully. The crew received a final weather report and clearance for a VOR/DME (

Instrument Landing System) landing. During the approach, the plane's no. 2 engine struck a tree at a height of approximately 25 metres (82 ft) above ground level. The outboard right wing then struck another tree, shearing it off and causing the aircraft to roll over and impact the ground inverted. Of the 9 crew and 178 passengers, none of the crew and only 11 passengers survived, leaving 176 dead.[1]

Colourful 11

A memorial in Paramaribo
Monument 's-Gravesandeplein, Amsterdam (NH) nl in memory to the victims of SLM flight 764

A group of Surinamese

Bijlmer district and were isolated from mainstream Dutch society. Hasnoe often found that he could engage the youngsters socially if they saw positive role models that had the same background as they did. He encouraged young boys to join football clubs and noted an improvement in their behaviour when they were playing sports as it gave them an opportunity to interact with their white contemporaries and so helped speed up the process of social integration.[7]

In 1986, Sonny Hasnoe organised the first match between a star selection of Surinamese Dutch professionals and

Dean Gorre, Jos Luhukay and Regi Blinker.[8] A group of eighteen "second stringers" travelled to Suriname instead.[9] Former Ajax players and Dutch internationals Henny Meijer and Stanley Menzo – who ignored his club's decree and went to Suriname on his own accord – had taken an earlier flight and were spared the fate of their teammates.[9]

Football players killed in the crash

[8]

Football players who survived

  • Sigi Lens, 25, Fortuna Sittard, would never be able to play football again due to a complicated pelvic fracture.[8]
  • Edu Nandlal, 25, Vitesse, suffered a partial spinal cord lesion, but eventually recovered and now walks with a limp.[2]
  • Telstar, would play again, but was forced to retire early as he could not reach his former level of performance due to a fractured vertebra.[10]

In 2005, Dutch journalist Iwan Tol released his book about this lost generation of Surinamese players called: Eindbestemming Zanderij. Het vergeten verhaal van het kleurrijk elftal (

ISBN 90-204-0366-4
).

Investigation and probable cause

A commission was set up by the

Surinamese government
to investigate the accident. The results of that investigation are described below.

The final weather report sent to the aircraft accurately stated that there was visibility of 900 meters in dense fog, 1/4 cloud cover with a cloud base at 400 feet (120 m), and calm winds. This surprised the flight crew because previous weather information had given visibility of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi; 3.2 nmi). As a result, although the aircraft was cleared for a VOR/DME (

first officer saying, "I don't trust that ILS", but the captain chose to use it regardless. He did instruct the first officer to tune the required navigational equipment for the functional VOR/DME approach, most likely for use as a gross error check.[1] [11]

Because of the unreliability of the ILS signal, the aircraft descended too low, triggering several audible and visual warning signals. The crew ignored these warnings and also descended below the minimum altitude allowed for both the VOR/DME and ILS approaches without positive visual contact with the runway. The crew may have been motivated by the aircraft's low fuel state.[12] The aircraft crashed at 04:27.

The NTSB investigation also discovered that captain Rogers, at age 66, was over the maximum age (60) allowed for a captain on this flight. Additionally, he was not properly approved for operating the aircraft type, as his most recent check had been on a small, piston-drive, twin-engine aircraft instead of the DC-8. Partly as a result of name confusion in his check paperwork, this incorrect check went unnoticed by the airline.[13] The co-pilot had false identity papers.[2]

The "probable cause" paragraph from the report reads as follows:

The Commission determines: a) That as a result of the captain's glaring carelessness and recklessness the aircraft was flown below the published minimum altitudes during the approach and consequently collided with a tree. b) As underlying factor in the accident was the failure of SLM's (Surinam Airways) operational management to observe the pertinent regulations as well as the procedures prescribed in the SLM Operations Manual concerning qualification and certification during recruitment and employment of the crew members furnished by ACI.

NTSB recommendations to the FAA

Even though the accident was not under U.S. jurisdiction, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) was actively involved in the investigation because the aircraft was U.S.-registered. As a result of its findings, a number of safety recommendations were made to the FAA.[13] These recommendations were made only to the FAA and not the government of Suriname or its bodies of investigation because the scope of the investigation was restricted by jurisdictional issues.

The following recommendations were made:[5]

  • Perform ramp and en route inspections of air carriers operating aircraft under 14 CFR part 129 that are registered in the United States.
  • Require air carriers operating into the United States under part 129 to provide the FAA with a list of the names, dates of birth, and certificate number of all captains and first officers operating airplanes into the United States. If pilots are found to have reached their 60th birthday, inform the air carrier that these pilots are not authorized to operate as either captain or copilot under the terms of the operations specifications issued in accordance with Part 129. (Class 11, Priority Action) (A-90-52)
  • Promulgate rules to regulate United States companies that provide pilots by contract to international air carriers. (Class 11, Priority Action) (A-90-53)

See also

References

  1. ^
    Aviation Safety Network
    . Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ "NTSB brief of previous incident". National Transportation Safety Board. Archived from the original on 2005-01-13. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  4. ^ "NTSB brief of accident". National Transportation Safety Board. Archived from the original on 2002-07-11. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  5. ^ a b "ICAO Circular 262-AN11 56" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Cir. 262-ANld56. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  6. ^ "Famous people who died in aviation accidents". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Een barrel van een kist, een incapabele crew en onverwachte mist". Darch Media (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "25 jaar na drama Kleurrijk Elftal". Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b "The forgotten story of … the Colourful XI tragedy". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Website ter nagedachtenis aan Andro Knel" [Website in memory of Andro Knel] (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Surinam Airways 764 CVR Transcript".
  12. ^ "Accident Synopsis". AirDisaster.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2019-06-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ a b "NTSB safety recommendation A-90-51 to A-90-53" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 2008-03-08. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2019-05-24.

External links

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