1997 — Aug 6, Korean Air 801 approach to Antonio B. Won IAP crash, Guam–13US of 229

–229  NTSB AAR. Controlled Flight into Terrain, Korean Air…801…Guam, Aug 6, 1997. P.1.[1]

—    3  Flight Crew.

—  11  Cabin Crew.

–214  Passengers (eventually, 215).[2]

–228  Sturkey. Mayday. Accident Reports…Transcripts…Airline Crash Investigations. 2005, 350.

—  13  Blanchard. NYT on Aug 7 notes 12 U.S. deaths. DoD notes U.S. survivor died Aug 10.[3]

—  12  New York Times. “29 Survive the Guam Crash, but Hope for Others Ends.” 8-7-1997.

—  10  Americans (of 13). (Wikipedia. “Korean Air Flight 801.” 12-30-2017.)[4]

–1  Grace Chung, 11, Aug 10 at Army Burn Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX.[5]

–1  Mrs. Chung (mother of Grace), killed in the crash.

–1  Sister of Grace Chung, killed in the crash.

–1  Brother of Grace Chung, killed in the crash.

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB: “Abstract: This report explains the accident involving Korean Air flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, which crashed into high terrain at Nimitz Hill, Guam, on August 6, 1997. Safety issues in the report focus on flight crew performance, approach procedures, and pilot training; air traffic control, including controller performance and the inhibition of the minimum safe altitude warning system at Guam; emergency response; the adequacy of Korean Civil Aviation Bureau and Federal Aviation Administration oversight; and flight data recorder documentation. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Governor of the Territory of Guam, and the Korean Civil Aviation Bureau.” (Abstract page.)

 

NTSB Executive Summary: “On August 6, 1997, about 0142:26 Guam local time, Korean Air flight 801, a Boeing 747-3B5B (747-300), Korean registration HL7468, operated by Korean Air Company, Ltd., crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam. Flight 801 departed from Kimpo International Airport, Seoul, Korea, with 2 pilots, 1 flight engineer, 14 flight attendants, and 237 passengers on board. The airplane had been cleared to land on runway 6 Left at A.B. Won Guam International Airport, Agana, Guam, and crashed into high terrain about 3 miles southwest of the airport. Of the 254 persons on board, 228 were killed, and 23 passengers and 3 flight attendants survived the accident with serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. Flight 801 was operating in U.S. airspace as a regularly scheduled international passenger service flight under the Convention on International Civil Aviation and the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 and was on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the Korean Air flight 801 accident was the captain’s failure to adequately brief and execute the nonprecision approach and the first officer’s and flight engineer’s failure to effectively monitor and cross-check the captain’s execution of the approach. Contributing to these failures were the captain’s fatigue and Korean Air’s inadequate flight crew training. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) intentional inhibition of the minimum safe altitude warning system (MSAW) at Guam and the agency’s failure to adequately manage the system….” (p. xi.) (NTSB. Aircraft Accident Report. Controlled Flight into Terrain, Korean Air Flight 801, Boeing 747-300, HL7468, Nimitz hill, Guam, August 6, 1997 (NTSB/AAR-00/01).)

 

Sturkey: “Overview: A Boeing 747 began a non-precision approach to the airport on the island of Guam… The airline descended prematurely and crashed into Nimitz Hill three miles short of the runway. There were 254 people aboard, and the impact and fire killed 228 of them…” (p. 350.)

 

Newspapers

 

Aug 6: “The Associated Press. Agana, Guam — A Korean Air jet that crashed into the dense jungle of Guam early today plowed through rocky hills in a ball of fire just three miles from its destination. At least 35 of the 254 people on board survived. Screams from the wreckage pierced the early morning stillness after the Boeing 747 from Seoul, South Korea, came to rest in a deep ravine on this U.S. island possession 4,000 miles west of Honolulu.

 

“Flight 801 was carrying mostly Korean tourists…when it crashed in a driving rain just before 8 a.m. Alaska time Tuesday. At least 13 Americans were on board.

 

“Gov. Carl Guiterrez, one of the first people on the scene, said rain-soaked Sawgrass covering the rocks made it so slippery it was impossible to carry survivors more than a few hazardous steps. Rescuers had to make their way through mud and the towering, razor-sharp Sawgrass….

 

“The plane…was trying to land at an airport that lacked both a crucial landing system and a government-staffed control tower….” (AP. “At least 35 survive crash of Korean Air 747 in Guam.” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK, 8-6-1997, p. 1.)

 

Aug 7: “….There were 15 Americans on the plane, 3 of whom survived….”

(New York Times. “29 Survive the Guam Crash, but Hope for Others Ends.” 8-7-1997.)

 

Sources

 

American Forces Press Service (Douglas J. Gillert). “One Crash Victim Dies, Three Cling to Life at Burn Center.” DoD News, 8-12-1997. Accessed 1-4-2018 at: http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=41097

 

Associated Press. “At least 35 survive crash of Korean Air 747 in Guam.” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK, 8-6-1997, p. 1. Accessed 1-3-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fairbanks-daily-news-miner-aug-06-1997-p-1/

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Controlled Flight into Terrain, Korean Air Flight 801, Boeing 747-300, HL7468, Nimitz hill, Guam, August 6, 1997 (NTSB/AAR-00/01). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 1-13-2000, 226 pages. Accessed 1-3-2018 at: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0001.pdf

 

New York Times (Andrew Pollack). “29 Survive the Guam Crash, but Hope for Others Ends.” 8-7-1997. Accessed 1-4-2018 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/07/world/29-survive-the-guam-crash-but-hope-for-others-ends.html

 

Sturkey, Marion F. Mayday. Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Airline Crash Investigations. Plum Branch, SC: Heritage Press International, 2005.

 

Wikipedia. “Korean Air Flight 801.” 12-30-2017. Accessed 1-4-2018 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801

 

 

 

 

[1] NTSB notes 228 deaths. After noting 228 fatalities notes that this figure includes one survivor who died within 30 days of the accident and that “According to 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 830.2, such fatalities are to be included in the total number of fatal injuries.” Goes on to note, however, that “A passenger with serious injuries died at the U.S. Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas on October 10, 1997, but is not officially listed as a fatality because the passenger’s death occurred more than 30 days after the accident.” (p. 1.) Thus there were actually 229 total deaths.

[2] As noted above, additionally, an injured passenger died a little more than 2 months later in US Army Med. Cen. In San Antonio. In that this death was beyond 30-day reporting period it was not included in NTSB death toll.

[3] We show, below, Wikipedia figure of ten U.S. deaths, and note that no source is cited. We choose to base our figure on the New York Times and Department of Defense reports cited herein.

[4] No source cited.

[5] American Forces Press Service (Douglas J. Gillert). “One Crash Victim Dies, Three Cling to Life at Burn Center.” DoD News, 8-12-1997. Article notes she was one of four survivors transported to the Brooke Army Medical Center. Adds: “Chung, of Marietta, Ga., had been the only American survivor of the fiery Aug. 5 crash that also claimed the lives of her mother, sister and brother. Her father…wasn’t on the flight…”