ČSA Flight 523
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 5, 19672 |
| Summary | Undetermined |
| Site | Gander International Airport, Gander, Canada |
| Passengers | 61 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 37 |
| Survivors | 32 |
| Aircraft type | Ilyushin Il-18D |
| Operator | Czechoslovak State Airlines |
| Registration | OK-WAI |
ČSA Flight 523, an Ilyushin Il-18D, was a scheduled flight from Prague Ruzyně International Airport (PRG/LKPR), Czechoslovakia to Havana on a Prague-Shannon-Gander-Havana passenger service with 69 people on board. On September 5, 1967, it crashed on climbout from Gander International Airport.
In 2015 a memorial plague has been unveiled in Gander to honour its victims.[1]
Crash
On September 5, 1967, it crashed on climbout from Gander International Airport, after being refueled there for the remainder of the flight.[2] The flight took off from runway 14 and started to climb under an abnormally shallow angle. The aircraft struck a wire of a mast.[2] It climbed to 40 metres, then started to dive. It hit the ground 4000 feet past the end of the runway at a speed of approximately 360 km/h, hit the railway embankment, caught fire, hit the ground again, and broke into pieces.[3] Four crewmen and 33 passengers were killed.[2]
The aircraft was new, manufactured in April 1967, with 766 flight hours. The crew was replaced by a fresh one in Gander. The captain's total flight hours were over 17,000 hours (over 5,000 were on Il-18), and he was familiar with the airport: he has been flying there since 1962. The co-pilot's total flight hours were over 10,000 hours.[3]
Investigation
The investigation of the incident started immediately; Czechoslovak and Soviet experts, including Genrikh Novozhilov from Ilyushin and the Czech World War II fighter pilot František Fajtl, also took part in it. Several possibilitites were discussed but the cause of the accident was never determined.[3]
References
- ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/1967-czech-airline-crash-in-gander-remembered-with-new-monument-1.3131823
- 1 2 3 Accident description for OK-WAI at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 23 September 2013.
- 1 2 3 http://technet.idnes.cz/letadlo-csa-havarie-zari-1967-ddd-/tec_technika.aspx?c=A120925_120009_tec_technika_sit