Lion Air Flight 904

Lion Air Flight 904

Lion Airlines Boeing 737-800 similar to the crashed aircraft
Accident summary
Date	13 April 2013
Summary	Landed short of runway in the water
Site	Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia 8°44′57″S 115°8′29″E / 8.74917°S 115.14139°E / -8.74917; 115.14139Coordinates: 8°44′57″S 115°8′29″E / 8.74917°S 115.14139°E / -8.74917; 115.14139
Passengers	101
Crew	7
Injuries (non-fatal)	46 (including 4 serious)
Fatalities	0
Survivors	108 (all)
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-800
Operator	Lion Air
Registration	PK-LKS
Flight origin	Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, Indonesia
Destination	Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Indonesia

Lion Air Flight 904 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight, flying from Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung to Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Indonesia. On 13 April 2013, the Boeing 737 operating the route while on final approach crashed into water short of runway. All 101 passengers and 7 crew on board survived the accident.^[1] The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-800, registration PK-LKS, operated by Lion Air between Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, Indonesia and Denpasar. At 15:10 local time (07:10 UTC), the aircraft crashed approximately 0.6 nautical miles (1.1 km) short of the seawall protecting the threshold of Runway 09. The aircraft's fuselage broke into two^[1] and 46 people were injured, 4 of them seriously.

The airport was closed for around ninety minutes while emergency services attended the scene.^[2]At the time of the accident, Lion Air had 16 other Boeing 737-800 in the fleet.

Investigators published the final report and concluded that pilot error was the cause of the crash. The investigation determined that there were no issues with the aircraft and all systems were operating normally. The investigation concluded several factors to this accident were the pitch angle versus engine power on the FDR data indicated that the basic principle of jet aircraft flying was not adhered during manual flying, aircraft flight path became unstable below MDA when the rate of descend exceeding 1000 feet per minutes, in which this situation was not recognized by both pilots, and the Captain decision and execution to go-around was conducted at an altitude which was insufficient for the go-around to be executed successfully. The flight crew loss of situational awareness in regards of visual references once the aircraft entered a rain cloud during the final approach below minimum descend altitude (MDA), thus, the plane crashed into the water.

Aircraft

The Boeing 737-8GP, registration PK-LKS, was officially owned by Avolon Aerospace. The aircraft was received new from Boeing by the Lion Air subsidiary Malindo Air on 21 February 2013. It was then transferred to parent Lion Air on 20 March 2013. The aircraft had been in service for less than six weeks with Lion Air before the accident.^[3]

Investigation

The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) published a preliminary report on 15 May 2013. Flight data showed that the aircraft continued to descend below the Minimum descent altitude (MDA), which is 465 feet (142 m) AGL. The report found that at 900 feet (270 m) AGL, the first officer reported that the runway was not in sight. At approximately 150 feet (46 m) AGL, the pilot again stated he could not see the runway. Flight data showed that the pilots attempted to perform a go-around at approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) AGL, but contacted the water surface moments later. The captain’s go around decision came far too late. The bare minimum altitude for a 737 go around is 50 feet, as 30 feet of altitude are lost when executing the manoeuvre.^[4] There has been no indication that the aircraft suffered any mechanical malfunction.^[5] A final report was published during 2014.^[6]

Passengers

There were two pilots and 5 flight attendants with 101 passengers on board consisted of 95 adults, 5 children and 1 infant. The passengers were mostly Indonesian, but included one French, one Belgian, and two Singaporeans.^[7]

Nationalities of the passengers and crew

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Indonesia	97	6	103
Singapore	2	0	2
Belgium	1	0	1
France	1	0	1
India	0	1	1
Total	101	7	108

See also

• Japan Airlines Flight 2 – DC-8 landed in San Francisco Bay
• Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 – 737 crashed short of the runway on approach to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
• US Airways Flight 1549 – Similar size aircraft that landed on water with no fatalities
• American Airlines Flight 1420 – Similar accident where pilots could not see the runway prior to the crash
• Asiana Airlines Flight 214 – Similar accident in July 2013 where the aircraft flew too low/slow, and crashed

References

Lion Air Subsidiaries Batik Air Thai Lion Air Wings Air Joint ventures Malindo Air Incidents and accidents Lion Air Flight 386 Lion Air Flight 538 Lion Air Flight 904 Destinations Media related to Lion Air at Wikimedia Commons