Thai Airways International Flight 311
Buri Ram | |
Operator | Thai Airways International |
---|---|
IATA flight No. | TG311 |
ICAO flight No. | THA311 |
Call sign | THAI 311 |
Registration | HS-TID |
Flight origin | Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand |
Destination | Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal |
Occupants | 113 |
Passengers | 99 |
Crew | 14 |
Fatalities | 113 |
Survivors | 0 |
Thai Airways International Flight 311 (TG311/THA311) was a flight from
Aircraft and crew
The aircraft's first flight was on 2 October 1987, and it entered service with Canadian airline
At the time of its crash on 31 July 1992, the aircraft had been in commercial operations for less than five years.[1] It was piloted by Captain Preeda Suttimai (41), who had logged 13,200 flight hours including 4,400 on A310 and 1,700 hours as Pilot In Command and First Officer Phunthat Boonyayej (52), who had logged 14,600 flight hours including 4,200 on the A310. The cabin crew consisted of 12 flight attendants, looking after 99 passengers.[5]
Accident
Flight 311 departed Bangkok at 10:30
Shortly after reporting the Sierra fix 10 kilometres (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi) south of the Kathmandu VOR, the aircraft called ATC asking for a diversion to
A number of frustrating and misleading communications (partly due to language problems and partly to the inexperience of the air traffic controller, who was a trainee with only nine months on the job) ensued between ATC and the pilots regarding Flight 311's altitude and distance from the airport.[opinion] The captain asked four times for permission to turn left, but after receiving no firm reply to his requests, he announced that he was turning right and climbed the aircraft to flight level 200. The controller handling Flight 311 assumed from the flight's transmissions that the aircraft had called off the approach and was turning to the south, so he cleared the aircraft to 11,500 ft (3,505 m), an altitude that would have been safe in the area south of the airport. The flight descended back to 11,500 ft, went through a 360° turn, and passed over the airport northbound.[citation needed]
Seconds before impact, the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) activated, and sounded alarms warning the crew of the imminent collision with the mountains. First Officer Boonyayej warned Captain Suttimai and urged him to turn the aircraft around, but possibly due to his frustration from the communications with ATC, Suttimai erroneously stated the GPWS was just giving false reports. The aircraft crashed into a steep rock face in a remote area of the Langtang National Park at an altitude of 11,500 ft (3,505 m), killing all 113 people on board.[citation needed]
Investigation
Investigators from the
Nepalese authorities found that the probable causes of the accident were the captain and air traffic controller's loss of
While trekking up the Himalaya mountain to the crash site, a British investigator from Airbus, Gordon Corps (62), died due to altitude sickness. Corps had over 11,500 flight hours and was a senior test pilot for Airbus.[10][11][12]
Victims
Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Belgium | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Canada | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Finland | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Germany | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Israel | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Japan | 17 | 0 | 17 |
Nepal | 23 | 0 | 23 |
New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 1 |
South Korea | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Spain | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Thailand | 21 | 14 | 35 |
United Kingdom | 2 | 0 | 2 |
United States | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Total (14 Nationalities) | 99 | 14 | 113[13] |
Aftermath
Thai Airways retired the flight number 311 after the accident, along with its counterpart flight number 312, which had been used for the outbound flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok. These were replaced by flight numbers 319 and 320, respectively. These redesignated flights continued to be operated by Airbus A310 aircraft until this type was retired by the airline and replaced with Boeing 777 aircraft in 2001. The remains of the aircraft can still be seen in Langtang National Park on the trek from Ghopte to the Tharepati Pass.
Fifty-nine days after the Flight 311 disaster, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 crashed on approach to Kathmandu, killing all 167 on board, the deadliest accident in the country's history.[14]
Dramatization
The crash is featured in Season 17, Episode 10 of Mayday (Air Crash Investigation).[15] The episode is titled "The Lost Plane".
See also
- Aviation safety
- Controlled flight into terrain
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- China General Aviation Flight 7552 Another aviation accident that occurred on the same day
- Mandala Airlines Flight 660 Another Aviation Accident that occurred a week before Flight 311, also crashing into a mountain
- List of airplane accidents in Nepal
References
- ^ Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "KOIRALA v. THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL LTD". FindLaw. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Thai Airways HS-TID (Airbus A310 - MSN 438) (Ex C-FGWD)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "HS-TID Thai Airways International Airbus A310-300". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "Thai jetliner crashes in Nepal". United Press International. 31 July 1992. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ "Thai Airliner Crashes In Nepal's Himalayan Foothills; 113 Aboard -- 11 Americans Are Listed As Among The Passengers". Seattle Times. AP. 31 July 1992. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ a b Learmount, David (9 June 1993). "Confusion caused Kathmandu A310 crash" (PDF). Flight Global. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ a b c Hoang, Vicki (1996). "Cultural Factors in Aviation Incidents and Accidents: Thai Airways International Flight TG-311 — Kathmandu, Nepal". Cockpit-Cabin Communication: The Impact of National and Occupational Cultures (Master's thesis). San Jose, CA: San Jose State University. pp. 11–13. Document No.1382581.
- ^ "British pilot dies on Airbus mission".
- Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011.
- ^ "High Altitude Claims Life of Probe Leader". 5 August 1992.
- ^ "113 Feared Dead in Nepal Crash; Thai jetliner slams into Himalayan hillside during heavy monsoon rains". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 1 August 1992.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A300B4-203 AP-BCP Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ Mayday: Air Disaster - Investigating the Unlikely Crash Site of Thai Airways Flight 311 In The Himalayas, retrieved 2 January 2024
External links
- Media related to Thai Airways International Flight 311 at Wikimedia Commons
- Google Books description: "Thai Airways International Ltd. Airbus Industrie A310-304, HS-TID, Near Kathmandu, Nepal, 23NM NNE, 31 July 1992." Commission for the Accident Investigation of TG311, 1993.
- "Conclusions from report on CFIT accident near Kathmandu" (DjVu). ICAO Journal. 48 (7). Montreal: International Civil Aviation Organization: 23–26. September 1993. ISSN 0018-8778. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- Pre-crash photos of HS-TID from Airliners.net