Air China Flight 129
Encyclopedia
Air China
Flight 129 (CCA129, CA129) was a flight from Beijing Capital International Airport
, Beijing
, People's Republic of China
to Gimhae International Airport
, Busan
, South Korea
. On April 15, 2002, the jet on this route crashed into a hill near Busan, killing 129 of 166 on board. CA129, Air China's first aircraft accident, is currently recorded as the deadliest aviation accident
in South Korea.
took off at 08:37 local time (0037 UTC). After nearly 2 hours in flight, it arrived near Gimhae airport in light rain and mist. At 11:20 local time (0220UTC), CA129 received clearance to land at runway 36L from Gimhae tower, but the aircraft circled the runway again after a missed approach due to low visibility. After an attempt to circle-to-land on runway 18R (the same runway from the opposite direction), the crew concentrated too much on the weather and ATC
communications while going below the Minimum Safety Altitude (MSA), and crashed into a hill at 11:40 local time (0240UTC). The aircraft broke into parts and caught fire. 37 survived, including the captain.
The aircraft, delivered in 1985, was Line No. 127. It had accumulated around 39,541 hours of flying and 14,308 landings.
The captain and two of the flight attendants survived, while the copilots and the rest of the flight attendants died.
, 19 were from the People's Republic of China
, and one was from Uzbekistan
. Most of the passengers who died were South Korean. At least one man, a Korean, died in the hospital.
The ATIS
string for Busan Gimhae airport was:
0200Z Oscar 230/6KT Vis 2 mi RAFG 3/8-005 6/8-010 8/8-025 16/13 A3000 Active Rwy 36L Info 36R/18L used as twy end of Oscar.
was released in May 2005. The Probable Cause read:
During the accident flight the airline made the pre-flight safety demonstration and announcements in Chinese
and English
, but not in Korean
, while 135 of 155 of the passengers were Korean. The Korean investigation board recommended that Air China begin announcements in Korean on flights to and from South Korea.
Other than the report released by the Korean Aviation Accident Investigation Board, the Chinese investigation team pointed out,
Air China
Air China is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern...
Flight 129 (CCA129, CA129) was a flight from Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport, is the main international airport serving Beijing, China. It is located northeast of Beijing's city center in an enclave of Chaoyang District that is surrounded by rural Shunyi District. The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
to Gimhae International Airport
Gimhae International Airport
Gimhae International Airport is located on the western end of Busan, South Korea. It opened in 1976. A new international terminal opened on October 31, 2007. Gimhae International Airport is the main hub for Air Busan...
, Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. On April 15, 2002, the jet on this route crashed into a hill near Busan, killing 129 of 166 on board. CA129, Air China's first aircraft accident, is currently recorded as the deadliest aviation accident
Aviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is defined in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a...
in South Korea.
Disaster
The Boeing 767-200Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
took off at 08:37 local time (0037 UTC). After nearly 2 hours in flight, it arrived near Gimhae airport in light rain and mist. At 11:20 local time (0220UTC), CA129 received clearance to land at runway 36L from Gimhae tower, but the aircraft circled the runway again after a missed approach due to low visibility. After an attempt to circle-to-land on runway 18R (the same runway from the opposite direction), the crew concentrated too much on the weather and ATC
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
communications while going below the Minimum Safety Altitude (MSA), and crashed into a hill at 11:40 local time (0240UTC). The aircraft broke into parts and caught fire. 37 survived, including the captain.
Aircraft
- Model: Boeing 767-2J6/ERBoeing 767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
- Registration:
- Previous Registrations: N60659
- MSN/CN: 23308/127
- Engine: Pratt & WhitneyPratt & WhitneyPratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
JT9D-7R4E4Pratt & Whitney JT9D-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:*...
The aircraft, delivered in 1985, was Line No. 127. It had accumulated around 39,541 hours of flying and 14,308 landings.
Crew members
- Flight Crew:
- Captain: Wu Xinlu (吴新禄), 6000 hours on Boeing 767, 5 times to Busan, received captain's license on 23 November, 2001;
- First Officer: Gao Lijie (高立杰)(He was a member of CFSO);
- First Officer: Hou Xiangning (侯向宁);
- Flight Attendants:
- Ye Hongxia (叶红霞), Wang Ze (王泽), Zhang Wanhua (张婉华)、He Zhen (贺珍), Xu Liya (许丽雅), Du Dazheng (杜大正), Luo Rui (罗睿) and Sun Jiayue (孙嘉悦).
The captain and two of the flight attendants survived, while the copilots and the rest of the flight attendants died.
Passengers
Among the 155 passengers, 135 were from South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, 19 were from the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, and one was from Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. Most of the passengers who died were South Korean. At least one man, a Korean, died in the hospital.
Weather
Weather at the time of crash was poor.The ATIS
Automatic Terminal Information Service
Automatic Terminal Information Service, or ATIS, is a continuous broadcast of recorded noncontrol information in busier terminal areas. ATIS broadcasts contain essential information, such as weather information, which runways are active, available approaches, and any other information required by...
string for Busan Gimhae airport was:
0200Z Oscar 230/6KT Vis 2 mi RAFG 3/8-005 6/8-010 8/8-025 16/13 A3000 Active Rwy 36L Info 36R/18L used as twy end of Oscar.
Accident report
The official accident report by the Korea Aviation Accident Investigation BoardKorea Aviation Accident Investigation Board
The Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board was a South Korean agency that investigated aviation accidents and incidents. It was headquartered in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. It had also been headquartered in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do...
was released in May 2005. The Probable Cause read:
- The flight crew of flight 129 performed the circling approach, not being aware of the weather minima of wide-body aircraft (B767-200) for landing, and in the approach briefing, did not include the missed approach, etc., among the items specified in Air China’s operations and training manuals.
- The flight crew exercised poor crew resource management and lost situational awareness during the circling approach to runway 18R, which led them to fly outside of the circling approach area, delaying the base turn, contrary to the captain’s intention to make a timely base turn.
- The flight crew did not execute a missed approach when they lost sight of the runway during the circling approach to runway 18R, which led them to strike high terrain (mountain) near the airport.
- When the first officer advised the captain to ascend again for landing, about 5 seconds before impact, the captain did not react, nor did the first officer initiate the missed approach himself.
During the accident flight the airline made the pre-flight safety demonstration and announcements in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, but not in Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, while 135 of 155 of the passengers were Korean. The Korean investigation board recommended that Air China begin announcements in Korean on flights to and from South Korea.
Other than the report released by the Korean Aviation Accident Investigation Board, the Chinese investigation team pointed out,
- ATC official in the airport, Park Junyong, did not own a license for air traffic control issued by the South Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry.
- Park did not know the property of the aircraft, a Boeing 767, and mistakenly directed the airliner to descend to an altitude of 700 feet (213.5m) instead of 1,100 feet (335.5m).
- The airport did not inform the crew of the weather conditions at the time. Eight flights before CA129 were directed to land at other airports because of bad weather.
- There were also problems with the radar system and lighting at Kimhae Airport.
Flight number still in use
Air China kept the flight route designator for its Beijing - Busan route after this incident. Two days after the accident, another 767 served as flight 129 and safely carried 106 passengers from Beijing to Busan, although the flight was delayed for 10 hours and 10 minutes due to bad weather. Although Air China runs a Boeing 737-800 on this route now, the flight route designator remains flight 129.See also
- Asiana Airlines Flight 733Asiana Airlines Flight 733Asiana Air Flight 733 was an Asiana Airlines passenger flight between Seoul, South Korea and Mokpo that crashed into Mt. Ungeo at 800 feet on July 26, 1993...
- Ground proximity warning systemGround Proximity Warning SystemA ground proximity warning system is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines GPWS as a type of terrain awareness warning system...
External links
"CA129 Final Report." - Korea Aviation Accident Investigation BoardKorea Aviation Accident Investigation Board
The Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board was a South Korean agency that investigated aviation accidents and incidents. It was headquartered in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. It had also been headquartered in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do...
- Air China Flight 129 Passenger Manifest - Air ChinaAir ChinaAir China is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern...
- Passenger names are stated with Roman characters - "South Korean Airport Has Responsibility for Air China Crash." Xinhua News AgencyXinhua News AgencyThe Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
. November 27, 2002. - Topic of "The 4.15 Air Disaster" on People's Daily (In Chinese)