Thai Airways Flight 231

Thai Airways Flight 231

251 px The aircraft involved in the accident at Chiang Mai Airport in 1976.
Accident summary
Date	27 April 1980
Summary	Pilot error in thunderstorm
Site	15 km north east of Bangkok, Thailand
Passengers	49
Crew	4
Injuries (non-fatal)	9
Fatalities	44
Survivors	9
Aircraft type	Hawker Siddeley HS 748
Operator	Thai Airways
Registration	HS-THB
Flight origin	Khon Kaen Airport, Thailand
Destination	Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand

Thai Airways Flight 231 crashed on 27 April 1980. The Hawker Siddeley HS 748, registration HS-THB, stalled and crashed after entering a thunderstorm on approach to Bangkok. The accident killed 44 out of 53 passengers and crew on board Flight 231.

Accident

Thai Airways Flight 231 took off from Khon Kaen Airport headed to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. After about 40 minutes Flight 231 was on approach to the airport and planned to land on runway 21R. It entered an area of rain which turned out to be a severe thunderstorm at 1500 feet. About a minute after entering the storm a downdraft struck the plane which caused the nose to go up and the plane to stall. The aircraft then went into a nose dive which the pilot tried to pull the aircraft out of. The Hawker then slightly banked to the right and was almost out of the dive when the aircraft crashed into the ground. The wreck of Hawker Siddeley HS 748 then slid for 510 feet and broke up at 06:55. The accident killed 44 of the passengers and crew, 9 people were injured in the crash.

References

• [1]

External links

• "Hawker Siddeley HS-748, HS-THB, accident near Bangkok International Airport, Thailand, on 27 April 1980." (Archive) – Accident Investigation Committee, Ministry of Communications, Thailand – Prepared by Harro Ranter, Aviation Safety Network