Incident Overview

Date: Friday 30 June 1967
Aircraft Type: Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III
Owner/operator: Thai Airways International
Registration Number: HS-TGI
Location: 1.2 km SE off Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport (HKG) – ÿ Hong Kong
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 24 / Occupants: 80
Component Affected: Aircraft Flight Control SystemAircraft Flight Control System
Investigating Agency: CAD Hong KongCAD Hong Kong
Category: Accident
During a heavy rainstorm, an ILS approach to runway 31 was initiated by the aircraft. The captain, focused on visual contact, failed to adequately monitor the approach and didn’t notice the descend through the minimum altitude of 415 feet. The co-pilot, descending below the glide slope, experienced an abrupt heading change, likely due to downdrafts, resulting in a high rate of descent and a crash into the sea short of the runway. The incident was likely caused by a combination of inadequate pilot monitoring and co-pilot error.During a heavy rainstorm, an ILS approach to runway 31 was initiated by the aircraft. The captain, focused on visual contact, failed to adequately monitor the approach and didn’t notice the descend through the minimum altitude of 415 feet. The co-pilot, descending below the glide slope, experienced an abrupt heading change, likely due to downdrafts, resulting in a high rate of descent and a crash into the sea short of the runway. The incident was likely caused by a combination of inadequate pilot monitoring and co-pilot error.

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.

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