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_at_FRA.jpg) D-ABUY, the aircraft involved in the accident seen in September 1978 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 26 July 1979 (1979-07-26) |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to ATC error and pilot error |
| Site | 25 kilometres (16 mi; 13 nmi) north of Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 22°34′58″S 43°12′57″W / 22.58278°S 43.21583°W / -22.58278; -43.21583 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-330C |
| Operator | Lufthansa Cargo |
| Registration | D-ABUY |
| Flight origin | Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Destination | Dakar-Yoff International Airport, Dakar, Senegal |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Lufthansa Cargo Flight 527 was a Lufthansa Cargo flight scheduled to fly from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. On 26 July 1979, shortly after take-off in Rio, the Boeing 707 flew into a slope and crashed. All 3 crew members, consisting of the captain, the first officer, and a flight engineer died; there were no survivors. The principal cause of the crash was the failure of air traffic controllers to pay the necessary attention to each aircraft and ensure the necessary attention to rising terrain.
Accident
The aircraft was a cargo variant of the Boeing 707 (707-330C). Flight 527 departed Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport at 21:27 UTC and was instructed by air traffic control (ATC) to climb to 2,000 feet (610 m) and to turn toward the Caxias VHF omnidirectional range (VOR). Approach control requested the pilot to increase their speed. The crew increased the aircraft's speed to 304 knots (563 km/h; 350 mph) as instructed despite the maximum speed being 250 knots (460 km/h; 290 mph) when the altitude is less than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). After communicating his instructions, the controller monitoring Flight 527 turned to focus on other flights near Rio, and was unaware of Flight 527 overspeeding.
By the time the controller resumed communications with Flight 527, he saw that the flight was further north than expected due to its greater speed. He then radioed the crew: "Lufthansa, turn right heading 140, just now, over. Lufthansa 527, turn right heading 140 and climb without restrictions." The crew responded: "Roger, leaving 2 thousand, LH 527, turning right heading 140."
Shortly after this transmission, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) activated and at 21:32 UTC the aircraft flew against a bunch of trees and crashed into a mountain, leaving a trail of debris 800 metres (2,600 ft) long.
Investigation
The main cause was found to be the failure of Brazilian air traffic controllers to pay the necessary attention to each aircraft and thus both stagger the aircraft among themselves and ensure the necessary distances to rising terrain.
The improperly high speed of the Boeing 707 was both due to faulty instructions and monitoring by the controller, as well as the crew passively accepting the dangerous instructions. Normally, the release includes a departure route to a so-called clearance limit, up to which the aircraft is allowed to fly at most. Even when asked by the pilots, air traffic control gave only an unclear answer. In the clearance for LH527 this information was missing, so the crew continued to fly on the set course instead of asking air traffic control for new instructions. For almost all of the last two minutes, there was no communication between LH527 and air traffic control.
See also
Portals:
References
- Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-330C D-ABUY Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, RJ (GIG)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ^ "ICAO Circular 173-AN/109" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
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| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 (1979) | |
|---|---|
| Jan 30 Varig Flight 967Feb 12 Air Rhodesia Flight 827Feb 17 Air New Zealand Flight 4374Mar 14 Alia Flight 600Mar 17 Aeroflot Flight 1691Mar 26 Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 crashMar 29 Quebecair Flight 255Apr 4 TWA Flight 841Apr 23 SAETA Flight 011May 25 American Airlines Flight 191May 30 Downeast Airlines Flight 46Jun 17 Air New England Flight 248Jun 20 American Airlines Flight 293Jul 11 Garuda Fokker F28 crashJul 26 Lufthansa Cargo Flight 527Jul 31 Dan-Air Flight 0034Aug 11 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collisionAug 29 Aeroflot Flight 5484Sep 14 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12Oct 7 Swissair Flight 316Oct 31 Western Airlines Flight 2605Nov 11 Manises UFO incidentNov 15 American Airlines Flight 444Nov 26 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740Nov 28 Air New Zealand Flight 901Dec 18 Mosfellsheiði air crashesDec 23 Turkish Airlines Ankara crash | |
| 1978 ◄ ► 1980 |
- Boeing 707
- Transport in Rio de Janeiro (city)
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979
- Lufthansa
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Brazil
- Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain
- Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
- Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error
- Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707
- Lufthansa accidents and incidents