| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 November 1980 |
| Site | Yap International Airport |
| Passengers | 67 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Survivors | 73 (all) |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727-92C |
| Operator | Continental Air Micronesia |
| Tail number | N18479 |
| Destination | Yap International Airport, Yap |
Continental Air Micronesia Flight 614 was a Boeing 727-92C, N18479, that crashed at 09:52 local time on November 21, 1980.
The Continental Air Micronesia airliner crashed while attempting to land on runway 7 at Yap International Airport on Yap in the western Caroline Islands when the right main landing gear immediately separated from the aircraft. The aircraft touched down 13 feet (4 m) short of the runway, gradually veered off the runway and came to rest in the jungle about 1,700 feet (518 m) beyond the initial touchdown point. Fire erupted along the right side of the aircraft as it came to a stop. All 73 occupants (67 passengers and 6 crewmembers) escaped before fire destroyed the aircraft. Three persons received serious injuries; the remainder received minor or no injuries.[1]
Following [1], the probable cause of this accident was the captain's premature reduction of thrust in combination with flying a shallow approach slope angle to an improper touchdown aim point. These actions resulted in a high rate of descent and a touchdown on upward sloping terrain short of the runway threshold, damaging the right landing gear. Contributing to the accident were the captain's lack of recent experience in the Boeing 727 aircraft, wrongly applying his previous experience in flying McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft to the Boeing 727.
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