| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 15, 1988 |
| Type | Belly landing after bird strike |
| Site | Bahir Dar Airport, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia |
| Passengers | 98 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 35 |
| Survivors | 69 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-260 |
| Operator | Ethiopian Airlines |
| Tail number | ET-AJA |
| Flight origin | Bahir Dar Airport |
| Destination | Asmara International Airport |
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604 was a scheduled Bahir Dar Airport–Asmara International Airport flight, that caught fire during a belly landing at Bahir Dar Airport (IATA: BJR, ICAO: HABD), Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, on 15 September 1988.[1][2]
Contents |
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-260, registration ET-AJA, delivered new to Ethiopian Airlines.[1] At the time of the accident the aircraft was less than a year old.[1]
Both engines of the aircraft ingested a flock of speckled pigeons as it took off from Bahir Dar Airport, subsequently overheating them.[1] One of the engines immediately lost thrust, while the other did so on the emergency return to the departure airport.[2] During a gear-up landing, the aircraft caught fire.[1]
There is some discrepance over the death toll depending upon the source, as this number is claimed to be 35,[1] or 31.[2][3][4] The discrepance likely arose because four bodies could not be recovered.[4] All of the fatalities were among the passengers.
|
||||||||||||