- China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303
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China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 Accident summary Date June 6, 1994 Type Faulty maintenance, mechanical failure Site Near Xian, P.R. China Passengers 146 Crew 14 Fatalities 160 Survivors 0 Aircraft type Tupolev Tu-154M Operator China Northwest Airlines Tail number B-2610 Flight origin Xian-Xianyang Airport (XIY/ZLXY), China Destination Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former) (CAN/ZGGG), China China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 was a domestic flight from Xian to Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.[1] On June 6, 1994, this aircraft, a Tupolev Tu-154M, broke up in-flight and crashed as a result of an autopilot malfunction which caused violent shaking and overstressed the airframe.[2]
Approximately eight minutes after takeoff (ten minutes in some reports), the control tower at Xianyang Airport lost contact with the plane and it crashed in a field 18 miles southeast of the airport.[3][4] All 146 passengers and 14 crew died. As of 2011, it remains the deadliest airplane crash ever to occur in China.[5]
Flawed maintenance of the aircraft is the probable cause of the sequence of events. The previous evening, the autopilot yaw-channel had been erroneously connected to the bank control, and the bank-channel to the yaw controls.[5] Additionally, this incorrect maintenance was not done in a properly approved facility.
Passengers
133 of the passengers were from Mainland China, 4 (including 2 children) were from Italy, 3 were from Hong Kong, 1 was from Taiwan, and 9 were from other countries.[6]
References
- ^ "Airline Crashes in China." The New York Times. June 6, 1994. Retrieved on December 25, 2008.
- ^ Accident database. AirDisaster.com
- ^ News report from the New York Times.
- ^ News report from the Kingston Gleaner. NewspaperArchive.com
- ^ a b Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ Tyler, Patrick E. "Jet Crash in China Kills 160; Another Flight Is Hijacked." The New York Times. June 7, 1994. Retrieved on December 25, 2008.
Jun 06 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303
Jun 24 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash
Jun 30 A330 test flight crash
Jul 02 USAir Flight 1016
Jul 19 Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901
Aug 21 Royal Air Maroc Flight 630
Sep 08 USAir Flight 427
Sep 12 Frank Eugene CorderOct 31 American Eagle Flight 4184
Nov 03 SAS Flight 347
Nov 22 TWA Flight 427
Dec 11 Philippine Airlines Flight 434
Dec 21 Air Algérie Flight 702P
Dec 24 Air France Flight 8969
Dec 29 Turkish Airlines Flight 278Incidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics. Deadliest incident shown in bold smallcaps. Categories:- Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors
- Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1994
- Aviation accidents and incidents in China
- Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-154
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