Incident Overview

Description
The aircraft was making an ILS approach to runway 31 during a heavy rainstorm. The captain was busy seeking visual contact with the ground and didn’t notice the descend through the minimum altitude of 415 feet. The co-pilot, who was flying the aircraft, made an abrupt heading change (while already 80 feet below the glide slope) and was possibly caught by downdraft, causing the aircraft to enter a high rate of descent and a crash into the sea short of the runway. PROBABLE CAUSE: “a) The pilots did not adhere to the Thai Airways procedure for a ‘captain monitored’ approach in bad visibility; b) The captain did not monitor the approach adequately; c) The co-pilot mishandled the aircraft after descending below minimum altitude; downdrafts may be contributed to the height loss which resulted from this mishandling.”
Primary Cause
a) The pilots did not adhere to the Thai Airways procedure for a ‘captain monitored’ approach in bad visibility.a) The pilots did not adhere to the Thai Airways procedure for a ‘captain monitored’ approach in bad visibility.Share on: