Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163

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Saudia Flight 163

CG render of HZ-AHK
Summary
Date August 19, 1980
Type In-flight fire in cargo hold
Site Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Passengers 287
Crew 14
Injuries 0
Fatalities 301
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Lockheed L1011-200 TriStar
Operator Saudi Arabian Airlines
Tail number HZ-AHK
Flight origin Karachi Airport
Last stopover Riyadh International Airport (former)
Destination Jeddah International Airport (former)

Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163 was a scheduled passenger flight of Saudi Arabian Airlines that landed at Riyadh's International Airport (now the Riyadh Air Base) after a flight from Karachi, Pakistan. On August 19, 1980, 287 passengers and 14 crew were on board the Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, registered HZ-AHK, which was 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.[1]

Contents

[edit] Passengers

Many of the passengers consisted of Pakistani pilgrims. [2]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Aftermath

Relatives of an American couple who died sued Lockheed, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Trans World Airlines, an American airline that trained Saudi pilots and supervised the Saudi maintenance program.[3][4]

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.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "SAFETY BOARD URGES IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOFING OF JUMBO JET BAYS," The New York Times
  2. ^ Disaster in the Air, 67.
  3. ^ "Family Suing in Saudi Airliner Fire; Crew Found Partly at Fault," The New York Times
  4. ^ Disaster in the Air, 68.
  5. ^ Disaster in the Air, 69.

[edit] External links

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