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NLM CityHopper Flight 431

NLM CityHopper Flight 431

The crash site of NLM Flight 431
Accident
Date	6 October 1981
Summary	Structural failure in severe turbulence[1]: 183
Site	near Moerdijk,Netherlands 51°42′N 4°31′E / 51.700°N 4.517°E / 51.700; 4.517
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Fokker F-28-4000
Aircraft name	Eindhoven
Operator	NLM CityHopper
Registration	PH-CHI
Flight origin	Rotterdam Airport
Stopover	Eindhoven Airport
Destination	Hamburg Airport
Passengers	13
Crew	4
Fatalities	17
Survivors	0

NLM CityHopper Flight 431 refers to a Fokker F-28-4000, registration PH-CHI, that was due to operate an international scheduled Rotterdam–Eindhoven–Hamburg passenger service. On 6 October 1981, the aircraft encountered severe weather on the first leg, minutes after taking off from Rotterdam Airport, and crashed 15 miles (24 km) south-southeast of Rotterdam. All 17 occupants of the aircraft – 13 passengers and crew of 4 – perished in the accident.^{[1]: 183 [2]}

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Fokker F28-4000, registration PH-CHI, that was built in 1979 with c/n 1141. At the time of the accident the airframe had accumulated 4,485 flight hours and 5,997 cycles.^[2]

Description of the accident

During the weather briefing 44 minutes before takeoff, the crew was apprised to an area of strong thunderstorms with 3/8 (37.5%) sky coverage of cumulonimbus at a base of 1,200 feet (370 m), south-southwest winds 15 to 25 knots (28 to 46 km/h; 17 to 29 mph) strong, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) visibility at Rotterdam Airport.^[2] The aircraft took off at 5:04 p.m. CET (UTC +1) from Rotterdam Airport.^[2] The crew noted heavy rain in thunderstorms on the airplane's weather avoidance radar at 5:09 p.m., receiving clearance to avoid the area.^[2] At 5:12 p.m. the aircraft entered a tornado while flying through clouds.^[2] The weather system the aircraft entered into was apparently the same "tornado-like" system that Zeeland locals described as being responsible for considerable property damage.^[3] Meteorologically, these vortices are indeed tornadoes, and the disintegrating airliner was seen exiting cloud cover. A police officer first photographed the tornado, then smoke from the burning plane a few minutes later. An investigation concluded that a sharp increase in altitude registered on the altimeter was not a change in altitude, rather a pressure drop associated with the tornado.^[4][5]

Stresses experienced by the airframe owing to severe turbulence (due to a "downburst" or "mircroburst" of a few seconds)^[6] resulted in loads of +6.8 g and −3.2 g causing the starboard wing to detach.^[2][7] The Fellowship was designed for a maximum G-load of up to 4 g.^[8] The aircraft spun down into the ground from 3,000 ft (910 m), crashing some 400 m (1,300 ft) from a Shell chemical plant on the southeastern outskirts of Moerdijk.^[3] All 17 occupants of the aircraft perished in the accident.^[2]. While observing the unfolding incident from the ground, a firefighter suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.^[9]

See also

• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NLM CityHopper Flight 431.

• Accident detailsatplanecrashinfo.com