Air Crash Investigations Deadly Mistake The Crash Of Kish Airlines Flight Irk 7170

On February 10, 2004, around 11.30 local time, Kish Airlines Flight IRK 7170, a Fokker F27, operated a scheduled passenger flight from Kish Island, Republic of Iran, to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, a 35 minutes flight. The aircraft was designed and manufactured in the Netherlands and registered in the Islamic Republic of Iran. During the approach, in good visibility, to land on runway 12 of Sharjah International Airport, the aircraft was observed to pitch down and suddenly turn to the left. The aircraft continued to descend and turn at high pitch and roll angles and impacted a sandy area 2.6 nm from the runway threshold. A large explosion was seen. The aircraft was destroyed and there were 43 fatalities. The accident was attributed to the movement of the power levers of the propellers by a pilot (it is not known who) from the flight idle position into the ground control range, which led to an irreversible loss of flight control.

On December 29, 1972 an Eastern Air Lines' Lockheed L-1011, as Flight 401 on its way from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, crashed at 2342 eastern standard time in the Everglades, approximately 18 miles west northwest of Miami International Airport. The aircraft was destroyed. There were 163 passengers and a crew of 13 aboard the aircraft, 99 people died in the crash. The flight was diverted because of problems with the nose landing gear The aircraft climbed to 2,000 feet while the crew attempted to correct the problem. Surviving passengers and crewmembers stated that the flight was routine and operated normally before impact with the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident, was preoccupation with a malfunction of the nose landing gear position indicating system distracted the crew's attention from the instruments and allowed the descent to go unnoticed.

On July 17, 1996, about 2031 eastern daylight time, Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) flight 800, a Boeing 747, crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York. TWA flight 800 was a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, New York, to Charles DeGaulle International Airport, Paris, France. All 230 people on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The weather was good. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was an explosion of the center wing fuel tank, resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. Contributing factors to the accident were the design and certification concept that fuel tank explosions could be prevented solely by precluding all ignition sources and the design and certification of the Boeing 747. The safety issues in this report focus on fuel tank flammability.

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737-222, was a scheduled flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. There were 74 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board. The flight was delayed about 1 hour 45 minutes due to a moderate to heavy snowfall. Shortly after takeoff the aircraft crashed at 1601 e.s.t. into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River and plunged into the ice-covered river, 0.75 nmi from the departure end of runway 36. Four passengers and one crewmember survived the crash. Four persons in the vehicles on the bridge were killed; four were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flightcrew's failure to use engine anti-ice during ground operation and takeoff, and to take off with snow/ice on the airfoil surfaces of the aircraft. Contributing to the accident were the ground delay between de-icing and takeoff clearance.

On Sunday, March 27, 1977 KLM Flight 4805 and PANAM Flight 1736 both approached Las Palmas Airport in the Canary Islands, when a terrorist's bomb exploded on the airport. Both flights were diverted to the neighboring island of Tenerife. After Las Palmas Airport reopened first KLM Flight 4805 was cleared for takeoff, a few minutes later PANAM 1736 was cleared. Due to a number of misunderstandings both aircraft collided on the runway of Tenerife Airport during takeoff, killing 583 people.

On February 12, 2009, about 2217 eastern standard time, Colgan Air, Flight 3407, a Bombardier DHC-8-400, on approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, crashed into a residence in Clarence Center, New York, 5 nautical miles northeast of the airport. The 2 pilots, 2 flight attendants, and 45 passengers aboard the airplane were killed, one person on the ground was killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was a pilot's error.

On August 6, 1997, about 0142:26 Guam local time, Korean Air flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam. The aircraft was on its way from Seoul, Korea to Guam with 237 passengers and a crew of 17 on board. Of the 254 persons on board, 228 were killed. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was captain's fatigue and Korean Air's inadequate flight crew training.

On 25 January 2010, at 00:41:30 UTC, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 409, a Boeing 737-800, on its way from Beirut to Addis Abeba, crashed just after take-off from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, into the Mediterranean Sea about 5 NM South West of Beirut International Airport. All 90 persons on board were killed in the accident. The investigation concluded that the probable causes of the accident were pilot errors due to loss of situational awareness. Ethiopian Airlines refutes this conclusion. Other factors that could have lead to probable causes are the increased workload and stress levels that have most likely led to the captain reaching a situation of loss of situational awareness similar to a subtle incapacitation and the F/O failure to recognize it or to intervene accordingly. Ethiopian Airlines refutes the investigation. According to the airline the final report was biased, lacking evidence, incomplete and did not present the full account of the accident.