Martinair Flight 138
 A computer graphic showing the DC-8 colliding with the mountain | |
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 4, 1974 |
| Type | CFIT |
| Site | Maskeliya, Sri Lanka |
| Passengers | 182 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 191 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8 |
| Operator | Martinair (Garuda Indonesia) |
| Tail number | PH-MBH |
| Flight origin | Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia |
| Destination | Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, Sri lanka |
Martinair Flight 138 was a chartered flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Colombo, Sri Lanka. The aircraft was operated on behalf of Garuda Indonesia. On December 4, 1974, the aircraft crashed into a mountain shortly before landing, killing all aboard – 182 Indonesian hajj pilgrims bound for Mecca, and 9 crew members.
The Douglas DC8 is said to have departed Surabaya, Indonesia at approximately 12.03 UTC heading to Jeddah planning a stop at Bandaranayake airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka. At around 16.30 UTC Colombo control cleared the flight. At 16.38 UTC another air traffic controller is said to have intervened and cleared the flight down to 5000 feet and reported clearing to 8000 feet. Colombo approach then cleared the flight down to 2000 feet at 16.44 and told the flight to expect a runway 04 approach. The crew aboard the flight were then asked to report when the air field was in sight. The crew then continued their descent until the plane finally crashed into "Saptha Kanya" Mountain at an altitude of approximately 4,355 feet and at around 4 nm east of Colombo. This air crash caused a 191 fatalities, 182 passengers and 9 crew members. This crash remains as the worst disaster in Sri Lankan aviation history.
Information
The flight was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 which carried the registration PB-MBH. It was fitted with Pratt and Whitney engines which were modified by KLM Airways and had a Air frame that had been constructed in 1966. The flight was owned by a Dutch company: Martinair.
Crew on Board
The pilot that flew the aircraft on the day it crashed was Hendrik Lamme with assistance from his co-pilot Robert Blomsma and the engineer on board Johannes Wwijinands.
Location
The air craft is said to have crashed on the fifth mountain of a range of hills known as "Saptha Kanya" at Therberton estate, Maskeliya, Sri Lanka. It crashed at around 40 nautical miles from Bandaranayake International Airport, Colombo.
Cause
Investigators listed the cause of the accident to be a "collision with rising terrain as the crew descended the aircraft below safe altitude owing to incorrect identification of their position vis-a-vis the airport. The investigation is of the opinion that this was the result of dependence on Doppler and Weather Radar Systems on board PH-MBH which left room for misinterpretation." Later on the probable cause was traced down to a deficiency in the manufacture of the air craft.
Events Leading to the Accident
The aircraft took off from Surabaya International airport Indonesia at approximately 1200 hours on the 4th of December, 1974 to proceed to Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia with a programmed stop at Bandaranayake International airport, Colombo. The aircraft contacted Bandaranayake approach control at around 1616 hours indicating that they were 130 miles away and so approach cleared the weather and requested the aircraft to change over to Colombo area control for a decent clearance. The air craft was then descended from 35,000 feet and handed back over to approach control. Approach control then cleared the air craft down to 2000 feet and were required to report back if they sight the air field or if they spot the "Katunayake Non-Directional Beacon." This message was acknowledged by the air craft and there was no further communication with the air craft. Eyewitnesses state that the air craft was flying at a level below normal and there was no evidence of a fire on board and to all the engine sounded normal with no malfunction. The sound of the air craft exploding on impact was heard clearly by residents close to the site of the crash.Later it was discovered that the aircraft had crashed into the fifth mountain.
Repeated attempts to make contact with the air craft from approach control met with no success and in consultation with Colombo area control the distress phase was initiated, search and rescue operations began subsequently. The state registry of the air craft namely the Netherlands and the country of manufacture namely the United States of America were informed. Indonesia was also informed of the accident as many of the passengers were nationals of that country.
Media's Reaction
The disaster and investigation received widespread coverage in the media, assisted by new news gathering technologies. The impact on the public was increased by the dramatic effect of amateur photos taken of the accident, which were published later on.
The passengers waiting for the flight to arrive at the airport were paid in order to ease the medias take on this particular story.
There were some early reports that a collision of a small plane had been involved in the crash. This apparently resulted from the discovery of small aircraft parts among the wreckage at the crash site. The transport minister of the Netherlands at the time was the target of large spread media form all over the world as reports uncovered a large blade of a propeller that belonged to the Douglas DC-8 The crash of flight 138 brought criticism from the media, because it was the largest recored aviation accident in history at the time, totaling 191 fatalities.
References
2.http://timelines.com/1974/12/4/martinair-holland-flight-138-hits-mountain-descending-into-rising-terrain
External links
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinair_Flight_138
