Malaysian_Airline_System_Flight_684

Malaysian Airline System Flight 684

Malaysian Airline System Flight 684

1983 aviation accident

Malaysian Airline System Flight 684 (MH684/MAS684) was a scheduled international passenger flight of Malaysian Airline System (now Malaysia Airlines) from Singapore Changi Airport in Singapore to Subang International Airport, in Subang (near Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia. On 18 December 1983, the Airbus A300B4-120 operating the flight crashed 2 km (1.2 mi; 1.1 nmi) short of the runway while landing at Subang International Airport. There were no fatalities among the 247 passengers and crew.[1][2]

Quick Facts Accident, Date ...

Accident

Malaysian Airline System Flight 684 departed Singapore Changi Airport on 18 December 1983 at 18:53 local time. As the flight approached Subang International Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport) in Subang, Selangor, Malaysia at 19:20 local time, it was cleared for an instrument landing despite poor runway visibility of 450 m (1,480 ft) due to rain. Airline policy required visibility of at least 800 m (2,600 ft), but the pilot assumed control from the first officer and began his descent. Furthermore, the air crew did not turn on the Instrument Landing System on the aircraft due to increased workload which was exacerbated further due to the different cockpit switch configuration between the A300 owned by Malaysian Airline System and that of the crashed aircraft, which was on lease from Scandinavian Airlines System.[3]

The altimeter warning sounded and within 30 seconds the aircraft struck trees 2 km (1.2 mi; 1.1 nmi) short of the runway. The plane slid along the ground for 436 m (1,430 ft), skipped for 36 m (118 ft), and finally struck a stream embankment where it slid another 109 m (358 ft) before coming to a rest. The aircraft was still 1,200 m (3,900 ft) short of the runway and had lost its landing gear and both of its Pratt & Whitney JT9D-59A turbofan engines. All 247 passengers and crew managed to evacuate before the fire destroyed the aircraft. The accident was the second hull loss of an Airbus A300.[4]

Probable cause

The probable cause was ascribed to pilot error in not monitoring descent rate during approach in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and continuing an approach below company minima without sighting the runway.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    Livesey, Jon (17 July 2014). "Curse of Malaysia Airlines? 5 tragic moments in airline's history before MH17 and MH370". Daily Mirror.
  2. [2]
    "Accidents and incidents of Malaysia Airlines". China Daily. 8 March 2014.
  3. [3]
    The Naked Pilot: The Human Factor In Aircraft Accidents, David Beatty
  4. [4]
    Ranter, Harro. "Malaysian Airline System Flight 684". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Malaysian_Airline_System_Flight_684, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.