Lauda Air Flight 004
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 26, 1991 |
| Type | Mechanical Failure |
| Site | Ban Nong Rong, Thailand |
| Fatalities | 223 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing B-767-3Z9ER |
| Operator | Lauda Air |
| Tail number | OE-LAV |
| Ship name | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Passengers | 213 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Lauda Air Flight 004 was an international passenger flight that crashed due to a thrust reverser deployment of the number one engine, in flight.
On May 26, 1991, about 2310 local time, Flight 004 (originating from Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport), a Boeing B-767-3Z9ER, registration OE-LAV, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, took off from Old Bangkok International Airport (now Don Mueang International Airport) for its flight to Vienna International Airport with 213 passengers and 10 crew, under the command of Capt. Thomas J. Welch and First Officer Josef Thurner.
At 2322, Welch and Thurner received a visual advisory warning indicating that a possible system failure would cause the thrust reverser on the No. 1 engine to deploy in flight. Because the Emergency/Malfunction Checklist indicated that no action was necessary, Welch and Thurner didn't take any action.
At 2331, the thrust reverser on the No. 1 engine deployed while the plane was over the jungle near Ban Nong Rong (Uthai Thani Province), Thailand. Thurner's last recorded words are reported to have been, "Reverser's deployed!"
The 767 stalled in mid-air and disintegrated at 4000 ft (1200 m). None of the 223 passengers and crew survived. The explosion remains the worst aviation disaster on Thai soil to date.
Upon hearing of the crash, Niki Lauda, retired Formula 1 race driver and owner of the airline, flew to Thailand and personally visited the crash site, turning up information that led to the accident's cause, which was the failure of the thrust reverser isolation valve. He tested his findings in a Boeing 767 simulator in England and revealed those findings in a press conference shortly thereafter. A subsequent official investigation corroborated Lauda's findings, leading Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system to prevent similar occurrences.
[edit] Similar accidents
- Hughes XF-11 - this aircraft also crashed due to a thrust reverser (in this case a reversible-pitch propeller) inadvertently deploying in flight.
