Saudia Flight 163

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Saudia Flight 163
Crash

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Image caption=CG render of HZ-AHK
Date=August 19, 1980
Type=In-flight fire in cargo hold,pilot error
Site=Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Fatalities=301
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Lockheed L1011-200 TriStar
Origin=Karachi Airport
Last stopover=Riyadh International Airport (former)
Destination=Jeddah International Airport (former)
Operator=Saudia
Tail Number=airreg|HZ|AHK|disaster
Passengers=287
Crew=14
Survivors=0

Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled passenger flight of Saudia that caught fire at Riyadh's International Airport (now the Riyadh Air Base) after a flight from Karachi, Pakistan. the fire, on August 19 1980, killed all 287 passengers and 14 crew on board the Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, registered airreg|HZ|AHK|disaster, which had been due to fly on to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

At the time the incident was the second deadliest single aircraft disaster in history, after Turkish Airlines Flight 981. [" [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C14FE3B5F0C728DDDAB0894D9484D81 SAFETY BOARD URGES IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOFING OF JUMBO JET BAYS] ," "The New York Times"]

Passengers

Many of the passengers consisted of Pakistani pilgrims. ["Disaster in the Air", [http://books.google.com/books?id=twKfXowAigIC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=%22saudi+arabian%22+lockheed+fire&source=web&ots=Rmph1ENuyr&sig=i792vUk_jGVkBGrsDalO9IVDqR4#PPA67,M1 67] .]

Fire

Flight 163 took off at 18:08 GMT to complete its final leg. However, six minutes into the flight, the crew received warnings of smoke in the plane's aft cargo compartment, C3. The next four minutes were spent by the crew trying to confirm the warnings, and by the Flight Engineer attempting to find the smoke alert procedures in the aircraft manuals. The captain decided to return to the airport. The thrust lever for the number 2 engine (center engine) became stuck as the fire burned through the operating cable, and the engine was shut down on final approach.

The aircraft returned to Riyadh International Airport and landed safely. After touchdown, the aeroplane continued to roll, and stopped on the taxiway 2 minutes 40 seconds after landing. The captain did not immediately order an emergency evacuation of the aircraft; rather the flight crew were instructed not to evacuate. The engines were not shut down for another 3 minutes and 15 seconds, preventing the rescue forces from reaching the aircraft.

One final transmission was received after the plane stopped, indicating that the emergency evacuation was about to begin. With a delay in evacuating the passengers, fire consumed the aircraft on the ground, killing everyone aboard. The fire rapidly progressed forward through the cabin. All of the victims were found in the forward half of the fuselage, but no doors were opened. The cause of the lack of coordination of emergency efforts is not known.

The rescue services were not familiar with the locations of the emergency exits of the aircraft. It took 23 minutes from the engine shutdown until the fuselage was accessed, by which time everybody aboard was dead from burns or smoke inhalation.

Aftermath

Relatives of an American couple who died sued Lockheed, Saudia, and Trans World Airlines, an American airline that trained Saudi pilots and supervised the Saudi maintenance program. [" [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C15FE345511728DDDAE0994D8415B8084F1D3 Family Suing in Saudi Airliner Fire; Crew Found Partly at Fault] ," "The New York Times"] "Disaster in the Air", [http://books.google.com/books?id=twKfXowAigIC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=%22saudi+arabian%22+lockheed+fire&source=web&ots=Rmph1ENuyr&sig=i792vUk_jGVkBGrsDalO9IVDqR4#PPA67,M1 68] .]

After the event, the airline revised the emergency procedures and training. Lockheed also removed the insulation from above the rear cargo area, and added glass laminate structural reinforcement.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that aircraft use halon extinguishers instead of traditional hand-held fire extinguishers."Disaster in the Air", [http://books.google.com/books?id=twKfXowAigIC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=%22saudi+arabian%22+lockheed+fire&source=web&ots=Rmph1ENuyr&sig=i792vUk_jGVkBGrsDalO9IVDqR4#PPA67,M1 69] .]

ee also

*Air Canada Flight 797
*ValuJet Flight 592
*China Airlines Flight 120
*List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

References

External links

* [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w19800819.htm Picture at PlaneCrashInfo.Com]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/investigation/cvr/transcripts/cvr_sv163.php Cockpit voice recorder transcript]
* [http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08191980&reg=HZ-AHK&airline=Saudi+Arabian+Airlines AirDisaster.Com Description (Main Database)]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=HZ-AHK&distinct_entry=true Airliners.Net Picture of Saudia 163]
* [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1980/1980-43.htm PlaneCrashInfo.Com article on Saudia 163]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0615F93D5D12718DDDA80A94D0405B8084F1D3 Fire on Saudi Plane Believed to Have Started in Cabin; Cockpit Escape Hatch Not Used]