China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146 was an
Ilyushin Il-18
The Ilyushin Il-18 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-18; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known and most durable Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world ...
that crashed near
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, China, on 18 January 1988 with the loss of all 108 passengers and crew. The crash was caused by poor maintenance.
Flight
Flight 4146 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
, Beijing to
Chongqing Airport
Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is located in Yubei District, Chongqing, China. The airport's IATA Airport code, CKG, is derived from the city's former romanized name, Chungking. Jiangbei airport is also a 128-hour transit visa-fre ...
, Chongqing, with 98 passengers and a crew of ten on board. The en route flight was uneventful until 21:50, but when the aircraft had neared Chongqing, the aircraft's Number Four engine (the outer engine on the right wing) caught fire. The fire burned the engine mount and the engine fell off the aircraft's wing. This caused a loss of control. Flight 4146 hit a power line and two farmhouses before bursting into flames.
Everyone on board the Ilyushin Il-18 perished in the crash.
[Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-18D B-222 near Chongqing Airport](_blank)
retrieved 10 August 2012 The occupants consisted of 104 Chinese, three Japanese, and one Briton.
The engine fire was the result of an oil leak. The engine was shut down and its propeller
feathered due to severe vibrations. However, the starter/generator fitted to the engine had overheated to such an extent that it had burnt the tube supplying oil at high pressure to feather the propeller. When the crew feathered the propeller, the tube burst and the leaking oil caught fire.
Aftermath and cause
Not long after the crash of Flight 4146, the
Civil Aviation Administration of China
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the Chinese civil aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the aviation authority responsible f ...
ordered safety checks that found mechanical problems leading to the grounding of at least 17 aircraft.
The crash of Flight 4146 was blamed on poor maintenance.
See also
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China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509
China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 (SZ4509) was a domestic flight in China from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport, Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang. On February 24, 1999, the Tupolev Tu ...
, another aviation disaster caused by poor maintenance.
*
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 was a chartered passenger flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Sokoto, Nigeria, on 11 July 1991, which caught fire shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport and crashed while attempting to retur ...
, another in flight fire that started when improperly maintained tires burst and caught fire on takeoff, killing 261 people.
References
External links
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Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1988
Aviation accidents and incidents in China
Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-18
China Southwest Airlines accidents and incidents
1988 disasters in China
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight fires
January 1988 events in Asia
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure