Pan Am Flight 812
 A Boeing 707-320B of Pan American World Airways, sister ship to the aircraft which crashed | |
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 22, 1974 |
| Summary | Instrument failure, pilot error |
| Site | 68 km (42 mi) northwest of Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia |
| Passengers | 96 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Fatalities | 107 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-320B |
| Aircraft name | Clipper Climax |
| Operator | Pan American World Airways |
| Registration | N446PA |
| Flight origin | Kai Tak International Airport |
| Stopover | Ngurah Rai International Airport |
| Destination | Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport |
Pan Am Flight 812, operated by a Pan American World Airways Boeing 707-321B registered N446PA and named Clipper Climax, was a scheduled international flight from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia, with an intermediate stop at Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. On April 22, 1974, it crashed into rough mountainous terrain while preparing for a runway 09 approach to Denpasar after a 4-hour 20-minute flight from Hong Kong. The location of the accident is about 42.5 nautical miles (78.7 km) northwest of Ngurah Rai International Airport. All of the 96 passengers and 11 crew on board were killed. The accident occurred just after the loss of Turkish Airways Flight 981, which killed 346 people on March 3, 1974.
Clipper Climax was the jet used in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory to deliver the guarded shipment of Wonka bars.
Investigation and determination of accident cause
Examination on the disposition of the wreckage and inspection of the site indicated that no structural failure of the aircraft occurred before impact. It was determined that the premature execution of a right-hand turn to join the 263-degree outbound track, which was based on the indication given by only one of the radio direction finders while the other one was still in steady condition, is the most probable cause of the accident.
Nationalities of those on board
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
 United States | 17 | 9 | 26 |
 Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Denmark | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Japan | 29 | 0 | 29 |
 Indonesia | 18 | 0 | 18 |
 Australia | 16 | 0 | 16 |
 West Germany | 4 | 0 | 4 |
 Canada | 3 | 0 | 3 |
 India | unk | 0 | unk |
 Philippines | unk | 0 | unk |
 Republic of China | unk | 0 | unk |
| Total | 96 | 11 | 107 |
Several memorial plaques are to be found for this crash in Jl. Padang Galak, next to the beach Temple, Kesiman, Denpasar East, Indonesia.
See also
References
- ↑ "Toledo Blade – Google News Archive Search". google.com.
- ↑ news.google.com
- ↑ "The Bryan Times – Google News Archive Search". google.com.
External links
- "Pan American World Airways, Boeing 707-321C, accident at Tinga-Tinga, Bali, Indonesia, on 22 April 1974.." (Final accident report) (Archive) 20 March 1975 – released by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Tourism, Indonesia. – Alternate link
- "107 Feared Dead in Bali Air Crash." Toledo Blade. Tuesday April 23, 1974. Page 1. Google News (18 of 37).
- April 24, 1974, The Age
- "Jetliner crash on Bali claims 107 aboard." The Bryan Times. Tuesday April 23, 1974. Volume 26, No. 96. Page 1. Google News (1 of 9).
- Account of U.S. diplomat at the scene., Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST)
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