Incident Overview
Description
Pan Am flight 812, a Boeing 707-300 named “Clipper Climax”, impacted a mountain while on approach to Denpasar-Ngurah Rai Bali Airport, Indonesia, killing all 107 occupants. Flight PA812 was a scheduled international flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Sydney (SYD), Australia with an intermediate stop at Denpasar (DPS), Bali. The crew prepared for an approach to runway 09 at Denpasar. The airplane descended to an altitude of 2500 feet when it flew into the side of a mountain. It appeared that the crew had initiated the let-down procedure after one of the ADF needles swung. The other needle remained steady, but the crew assumed that they were over the beacon when the aircraft was still about 30 NM North of the beacon. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The premature execution of a right-hand turn to join the 263 degrees outbound track which was based on the indication given by only one of the ADFs while the other one was still in steady condition”
Primary Cause
Incorrect ADF indicator reading and premature right-hand turn leading to a deviation from the beacon.Incorrect ADF indicator reading and premature right-hand turn leading to a deviation from the beacon.Share on:
