On 28 November 2009 at 08:12 (
UTC+8
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00.
With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...
),
Avient Aviation
Avient Aviation was an international cargo airline with its head office in Harare, Zimbabwe and its commercial center in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 1993 and offered scheduled and chartered flights to Africa, South Amer ...
McDonnell Douglas MD-11F
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American tri-jet wide-body airliner manufactured by American McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing.
Following DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986.
Assembly of t ...
, registration Z-BAV (c/n 48408), on flight 324 from
Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two international airports serving Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic fights, while the city's othe ...
to
Manas International Airport
Manas International Airport ( ky, Манас эл аралык аэропорту, Manas El Aralyk Aeroportu ; russian: Международный аэропорт «Манас») is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan, located north- ...
, near
Bishkek
Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
, crashed during its take off roll with the loss of 3 lives. As the aircraft rotated for departure, the
tail struck the ground, and the aircraft then overshot the end of the runway, crashed and landed on top of a warehouse near the runway. The plane was written off.
Avient took delivery of Z-BAV on 20 November 2009, 8 days before the crash.
This is the first ever accident that took place in
Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two international airports serving Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic fights, while the city's othe ...
.
Official investigation reports have been difficult to acquire over the years;
on 28 February 2020, an English translation of a "brief abstract" of a Chinese investigation became publicly available.
According to this translated abstract, the thrust levers were never advanced to takeoff position, and the autothrust never transitioned to takeoff mode.
The crew perceived through physical cues that thrust was abnormally low,
but neither identified the problem nor took any corrective action. Simulations seemed to indicate that with timely corrective action, recovery and prevention of the accident was possible.
Fatigue was suspected to be a contributing factor for all crew members, many suffering jetlag from lengthy travel and numerous time zone transitions to position themselves for the accident flight.
Crew members were from the United States (4), Indonesia (1), Belgium (1) and Zimbabwe (1).
Aircraft
The aircraft was acquired from
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-based
Pegasus Aviation
P&M Aviation was a British aircraft manufacturer, specializing in ultralight trikes, founded in 2003. The company was purchased by Albatross Flying Systems in 2019.
History
The company was formed in 2003 by Keith Duckworth's purchase of two r ...
, an aircraft lessor. Delivered in 1990, this MD-11 was the first owned by Pegasus to be leased to
Korean Airlines
Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights.
The present-day Korean Air ...
as a passenger airliner and then converted to a freighter in 1995, with the registration HL7372. On 9 January 2002, the plane had suffered a minor incident where its tail hit the ground during loading in
Sydney Airport
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
. The plane was returned to Pegasus in 2004. From 2005 to 2009 it was leased to
Varig Logística
Varig Logística S.A., operating as VarigLog, was a cargo airline, based in Jardim Aeroporto, Campo Belo, São Paulo, Brazil.
All operations were suspended on 1 February 2012 and on 27 September 2012 it was declared bankrupt.
History Varig Carg ...
of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It was the sistership of HL7373, the MD-11F which crashed in
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is one of the two international airports of Shanghai and a significant airline hub of China. Hongqiao Airport mainly serves domestic and regional flights, although the airport also serves international fl ...
due to pilot error when operating
Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316
Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316 (KE6316/KAL6316) was a scheduled Korean Air Cargo freight flight from Shanghai to Seoul. On 15 April 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F operating the route, registered as HL7373, crashed in Xinzhuang, Shanghai shortly ...
in 1999.
References
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Aviation accidents and incidents in China
Aviation accidents and incidents in 2009
2009 in China
November 2009 events in China
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