Martinair Flight 495

Martinair Flight 495 was a Dutch DC-10, registered PH-MBN, that crash-landed in severe weather conditions onto runway 11 at Faro Airport, Portugal, in 1992. The aircraft carried 13 crew members and 327 passengers, mainly holidaymakers from the Netherlands. 54 passengers and 2 crew members died^[1] and 106 of the other occupants were badly injured.

Description

The ill-fated aircraft is seen here at Faro Airport in 1985.

A large thunderstorm lay in the immediate vicinity of the airport, accompanied by heavy rain, windshear and low cloud. The control tower informed the crew of the thunderstorm activity, in addition stating that there was water on the runway. Following one unsuccessful attempt to land, the crew was executing a VOR/DME procedure approach to runway 11 when the aircraft flew through at least two microbursts.

The aircraft landed with a vertical speed exceeding the manufacturer's design limits. Following this hard landing, the starboard main gear collapsed. The starboard wing fuel tank ruptured and the contents ignited. The DC-10 fuselage split in two, coming to rest with the front section lying on its side.

The cause of the accident was determined to be bad weather conditions in combination with crew errors.^[1]

See also

• Pan Am Flight 759
• Delta Air Lines Flight 191
• China Airlines Flight 642

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martinair Flight 495.

• GPIAA:
  • Final report – Non-official English translation provided by the Netherlands Aviation Safety Board (Archive)
  • Final report (Portuguese)
    • Report document (Archive, Alt Alt #2) – Original version
• VliegrampFaro.nl site in Dutch maintained by a survivor of the crash