The aircraft involved in the accident at Faro Airport in November 1990 with its previous operator, Maersk Air
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| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 26, 1993 (1993-07-26) |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site | Ungeo Mountain, near Mokpo Airport, South Korea 34°42′31″N 126°18′39″E / 34.70861°N 126.31083°E / 34.70861; 126.31083 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-5L9 |
| Operator | Asiana Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | OZ733 |
| ICAO flight No. | AAR733 |
| Call sign | ASIANA 733 |
| Registration | HL7229 |
| Flight origin | Seoul-Gimpo International Airport |
| Destination | Mokpo Airport |
| Occupants | 116 |
| Passengers | 110 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 68 |
| Injuries | 48 |
| Survivors | 48 |
Asiana Airlines Flight 733 was a domestic Asiana Airlines passenger flight from Seoul-Gimpo International AirporttoMokpo Airport, South Korea. The Boeing 737 crashed on July 26, 1993, in the Hwawon area of Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. The cause of the accident was determined to be pilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain. 68 of the 116 passengers and crew on board were killed.[1] The crash resulted in the first hull loss of a 737-500.[citation needed]
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-5L9,[note 1] which made its maiden flight on June 14, 1990. The aircraft was delivered to Maersk Air on June 26 the same year (with registration OY-MAB).[2] The aircraft was then leased to Asiana Airlines on November 26, 1992.[2]
There were three Japanese nationals and two American nationals among the passengers, many of whom were vacationers heading for a popular summer resort off the Yellow Sea, according to the airline.[3] The captain was Hwang In-ki (Korean: 황인기, Hanja: 黃仁淇, RR: Hwang In-gi. M-R: Hwang In'gi), and the first officer was Park Tae-hwan (Korean: 박태환, Hanja: 朴台煥, RR: Bak Tae-hwan. M-R: Pak T'ae-hwan). There were four flight attendants on board.[4]
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 105 | 6 | 111 |
| Japan | 3 | - | 3 |
| United States | 2 | - | 2 |
| Total | 110 | 6 | 116 |
On July 26, 1993, flight 733 departed Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, bound for Mokpo Airport, for a scheduled arrival at 15:15. At that time, the weather conditions in Mokpo and Yeongam County area consisted of heavy rain and wind. However, the weather conditions were not enough to delay the arrival time. The flight planned to land on runway 06. The aircraft made its first landing attempt at 15:24, which failed, followed by a second landing attempt at 15:28, which also failed. At 15:38, after two failed landing attempts, the aircraft made a third attempt. The twin-engine plane then disappeared from the radar at 15:41. At 15:48 the aircraft crashed into a ridge, Mt. Ungeo, at 800 ft (240 m).[3] At 15:50, the wreckage was found near Masanri, Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, about 10 km (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi) southwest of Mokpo Airport. The news was reported by two surviving passengers who escaped from the wreckage and ran to the Hwawon-myeon branch of the village below the mountain.
After the accident, Asiana Airlines announced that the plane had been delayed by three landing attempts and that it appeared to have crashed. The runways did not have an ILS installed. Mokpo Airport was equipped with only VOR/DME, resulting in pilots performing excessive landing attempts in some cases, and was a contributing cause of the accident.[5] A prosecutor in charge of investigating the accident concluded that the aircraft, having disappeared from the normal flight route, had made an unintentional landing with the pilots having misunderstood the situation.[6] Both pilots were killed in the crash. Chung Jong-hwan, the director general of the Ministry of Transportation, said that captain Hwang's actions caused the crash. An inquiry found pilot error was the cause of the crash when the plane began a descent while it was still passing over a mountain peak.[6] The flight recorders were found and they recorded that after the third attempt, the crew told the control tower that the aircraft was veering off course. According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), captain Hwang flew the aircraft below the minimum safe altitude (1,600 ft (490 m)), as he said, "okay, eight hundred [feet]," a few seconds before impact.[6][7]
This was Asiana Airlines' first fatal (and as of 2023, deadliest) aircraft crash. After the accident, Asiana suspended the Gimpo - Mokpo route.[8] The airline paid compensation to the families of the victims.[9] In addition, at the time the transportation department was planning to build Muan International AirportinMuan County, Jeolla Province.[10] When Muan International Airport was opened in 2007, Mokpo Airport was closed and converted into a military base. The accident also caused Asiana to cancel their order of Boeing 757-200s and instead order the Airbus A321.[10]
Flight 733 was the deadliest aviation accident in South Korea at that time. It was surpassed by Air China Flight 129, which crashed on April 15, 2002, with 129 fatalities. It was also the deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737-500 at that time. It was surpassed by Aeroflot Flight 821, which crashed on September 14, 2008, with 88 fatalities. As of 2023, Flight 733 remains the second deadliest crash in both of these categories.[1]
As of April 2024, Asiana Airlines still uses the flight number 733 but on the late evening Seoul-Incheon–Hanoi route utilizing an Airbus A350-900.[11]
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1993 (1993)
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Feb 8 Feb 11 Mar 5 Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301 Mar 31 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E Apr 1 Alan Kulwicki Swearingen crash Apr 6 China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 Apr 14 Apr 18 Apr 24 Apr 26 Apr 27 Zambia national football team plane crash May 19 Jul 1 Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 724 Jul 23 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 Jul 26 Jul 31 Aug 12 Aug 18 American International Airways Flight 808 Aug 26 Aug 28 Khorog Tajikistan Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40 crash Sep 14 Sep 21 Oct 26 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 Oct 27 Nov 4 Nov 13 China Northern Airlines Flight 6901 Nov 20 Nov 26 Dec 1 | |
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Aviation accidents and incidents in South Korea
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