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(Redirected from Icelandic Airlines Flight 001) 1978 aviation accident in Sri Lanka

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Loftleiðir Flight 001
Accident
TF-FLA, the aircraft involved in the accident.
Date	15 November 1978
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain caused by faulty airport equipment along with crew and ATC error
Site	Katunayake, Sri Lanka 7°12′33″N 79°54′8″E / 7.20917°N 79.90222°E / 7.20917; 79.90222
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-8-63CF
Aircraft name	Leifur Eiríksson
Operator	Loftleiðir on behalf of Garuda Indonesian Airways
IATA flight No.	LL001
Call sign	LIMA LIMA 001
Registration	TF-FLA
Flight origin	Kandara Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Stopover	Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Destination	Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia
Occupants	262
Passengers	249
Crew	13
Fatalities	183
Injuries	75
Survivors	79

Loftleiðir Flight 001 was a Hajj charter flight operated by a Douglas DC-8 which crashed on approach to Colombo, Sri Lanka on 15 November 1978. The crash killed 183 out of 262 passengers and crew members. The official report by Sri Lankan authorities determined the probable cause of the crash to be the failure of the crew to conform to approach procedures; however, American and Icelandic authorities claimed faulty equipment at the airport and air traffic control errors as the reasons for the crash. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident in 1978, behind Air India Flight 855.

With 183 fatalities, the crash of Flight 001 is the deadliest crash involving an Icelandic airline and the second deadliest in Sri Lankan aviation history after Martinair Flight 138, another chartered DC-8 that crashed four years earlier.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Douglas DC-8-63CF named Leifur Eiríksson and registration TF-FLA, operated by Loftleiðir. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was operating Hajj charter flights for Garuda Indonesian Airways.

Accident

Flight 001 departed Jeddah for Surabaya with a stop at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo for refueling and crew rotation. There were 249 passengers, most of whom were Indonesian Hajj pilgrims from South Kalimantan returning home, and 13 Icelandic crew members. Thunderstorms were in the area, and wind shear was an issue. At 22:53:24 local time, the control center informed the aircraft's crew that they would be landing on runway 04. In response, the crew requested a landing on runway 22. The controller approved the request and gave instructions for an ILS landing on runway 22. The aircraft then descended to flight level (FL) 220, reaching that height around 140 km (90 mi) from the airport.

At 23:06:32 local time, the crew contacted the airport's radar control center, which cleared the flight to descend to an altitude of 610 metres (2,000 ft) and then follow control's instructions to perform an approach to landing on runway 22. The dispatcher also gave the crew instructions to report when they had reached the radio beacon, which the crew acknowledged receiving but did not confirm. The radar controller periodically transmitted distance and altitude data to the aircraft. The last radio message from the controller was given at 23:27:26: "Lima, Lima 001, slightly to the left of center line, very slightly to the left of center line, 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) from touch-down, height 200 metres (650 ft), cleared to land off this approach." At 23:27:37, the crew replied, "Roger."

When the approach controller subsequently acquired a visual on Flight 001, the aircraft was descending dangerously towards the ground. The controller warned the flight, "Lima, Lima 001, you are undershooting." However, the crew was then speaking with the radar controller on another frequency, and so they did not receive the advisory. The approach controller then lost sight of the DC-8, after which he saw an explosion. At 23:28:03, the DC-8 crashed into a rubber and coconut plantation and exploded. The left wing tip struck the coconut trees first, breaking them apart. The aircraft then banked 40 degrees to port and impacted the ground, virtually disintegrating the forward fuselage. The remaining fuselage was cartwheeled out of control and split up into six pieces, coming to a stop 146 metres (478 ft) past the initial point of impact. The crash site was located 2.1463 kilometres (1.1589 nmi) from runway 22 and 31.44 metres (103.15 ft) off the right side of the runway's extended center line. As the first witness to the crash, the approach controller immediately informed his colleagues of the accident.

Within half an hour, five fire trucks arrived at the crash site. The rescue operation was hampered by the presence of many coconut palm trees, which prevented access to many large pieces of equipment. One of the rescue team members was the acting head of Sri Lanka's civil aviation authority. While assisting in the rescue, he managed to document the instrument readings and take photographs necessary for the investigation.

A total of 183 people were killed in the crash: eight crew members and 175 passengers. Survivors totaled 79: 32 people (four crew members and 28 passengers) received non-fatal injuries, while 47 people (one crew member and 46 passengers) were uninjured.

References

^ Ranter, Harro. "Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63CF TF-FLA Colombo-Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) (Sri Lanka)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
Ranter, Harro. "Sri Lanka air safety profile". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
^ Sveinsson, Óttar (2006). Útkall: Leifur Eiríksson brotlendir [Callout: Leifur Eiríksson breaks] (in Icelandic). Útkall. ISBN 9979-9728-4-X. Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
"189 Moslem [sic] Pilgrims Feared Dead In Charter Jet Crash in Sri Lanka". The New York Times. 1978-11-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
^ "Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by His Excellency the president to inquire into the causes and circumstances in which Loftleider Icelandic Airways aircraft DC-8-63F TF-FLA met with an accident in the vicinity of the Katunayake Airport on 15th November 1978" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. 28 June 1979. Retrieved 24 April 2014.

External links

Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka
- Final report (Archive) (Non-PDF version with appendices)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 (1978)
Jan 1 Air India Flight 855Feb 11 Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314Feb 17 British Army Gazelle downingMar 1 Continental Airlines Flight 603Mar 3 LAV HS 748 accidentMar 9 China Airlines Flight 831Mar 13 United Airlines Flight 696Mar 16 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107Apr 20 Korean Air Lines Flight 902May 8 National Airlines Flight 193May 19 Aeroflot Flight 6709May 23 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crashJun 21 Iranian Chinook shootdownJun 26 Air Canada Flight 189Jun 26 Helikopter Service Flight 165Aug 9 Olympic Airways Flight 411Aug 30 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijackingSep 3 Air Rhodesia Flight 825Sep 7 Air Ceylon Avro HS 748 bombingSep 25 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182Sep 26 Air Caribbean Flight 309Sep 30 Finnair Flight 405Oct 3 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crashOct 7 Aeroflot Flight 1080Oct 21 Valentich disappearanceOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 6515Nov 15 Loftleiðir Flight 001Dec 4 Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217Dec 17 Indian Airlines Flight 403Dec 20 Indian Airlines Flight 410Dec 21 TWA Flight 541Dec 22 Cessna 188 Pacific rescueDec 23 Alitalia Flight 4128Dec 28 United Airlines Flight 173
1977 ◄ ► 1979

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 (1978)

Jan 1 Air India Flight 855Feb 11 Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314Feb 17 British Army Gazelle downingMar 1 Continental Airlines Flight 603Mar 3 LAV HS 748 accidentMar 9 China Airlines Flight 831Mar 13 United Airlines Flight 696Mar 16 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107Apr 20 Korean Air Lines Flight 902May 8 National Airlines Flight 193May 19 Aeroflot Flight 6709May 23 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crashJun 21 Iranian Chinook shootdownJun 26 Air Canada Flight 189Jun 26 Helikopter Service Flight 165Aug 9 Olympic Airways Flight 411Aug 30 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijackingSep 3 Air Rhodesia Flight 825Sep 7 Air Ceylon Avro HS 748 bombingSep 25 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182Sep 26 Air Caribbean Flight 309Sep 30 Finnair Flight 405Oct 3 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crashOct 7 Aeroflot Flight 1080Oct 21 Valentich disappearanceOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 6515Nov 15 Loftleiðir Flight 001Dec 4 Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217Dec 17 Indian Airlines Flight 403Dec 20 Indian Airlines Flight 410Dec 21 TWA Flight 541Dec 22 Cessna 188 Pacific rescueDec 23 Alitalia Flight 4128Dec 28 United Airlines Flight 173

1977 ◄ ► 1979

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Sri Lanka
Martinair Flight 138 (December 1974) Loftleiðir Flight 001 (November 1978) Air Lanka Flight 512 (May 1986) 1995 Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748 shootdown (28 April 1995) Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748 (CR834) shootdown (29 April 1995) Lionair Flight 602 (September 1998)

v t e Incidents related to the Hajj
Hajj Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Crushes and crowd-related issues	1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy 1994 stampede 1998 stampede 2001 stampede 2004 stampede 2006 stampede 2015 stampede
Fires	1997 fire
Protests and violence	692 siege 924 caravan raid 930 sack of Mecca 1757 caravan raid 1926 mahmal incident 1987 incident
Airplane crashes	Royal Jordanian (1973) Martinair Flight 138 (1974) Loftleiðir Flight 001 (1978) Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 (1979) Saudia Flight 163 (1980) Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 (1991) Turkish Airlines Flight 5904 (1999)
Ship	1502 Miri ship sinking 1695 Capture of the Grand Mughal Fleet 1908 SS Sardinia fire 1930 SS Asia fire
Disease	1817–1824 cholera pandemic 1863–1875 cholera pandemic Hajj cough MERS-related coronavirus Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hajj
Construction	2006 hostel collapse 2015 crane collapse
Heat	2024 Hajj disaster
Related	Stoning of the Devil Other incidents MosqueMeToo