SalamAir Flight 488 incident

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SalamAir Flight 488
Accident
Date25 September 1986 (1986-09-25)
SummaryPlane ran off runway
SiteDar Al Hamma International Airport
Total fatalities102
Total injuries128
Total survivors203
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-121
OperatorSalamAir
RegistrationSL-JXN
Flight originAnkur-South Airport, Salamat
DestinationDar Al Hamma International Airport, Salamat
Occupants305
Passengers289
Crew16
Fatalities102
Injuries128
Missing0
Survivors203
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities0
Ground injuries0

The SalamAir Flight 488 incident occurred on September 25 1986 and involved a Boeing 747-121.

Accident

SalamAir Flight 488 takes off from Ankur-South Airport runway 36R at 05:56 UTC (04:56 local), in direction to Dar Al Hamma International Airport. The METAR archives show that the conditions were bad, with 50 km/h northern winds and lots of rainfall this day, combined with fog. The plane, a Boeing 747-121, started service on March 1983. About 25 minutes later, at 06:20 UTC (05:20 local), the Boeing approaches the runway 35, but because of the heavy rain, the plane glided on the runway and couldn't stop. The fog also decreased the visibility, causing the pilots to run into a hill just after the runway. As a result, both the pilot and copilot died, and a fire started in the airplane, killing 102 out of the 305 persons onboard. The fire was quickly extinguished afterwards.

The pilot, Mohammed Abd Al Fatah Al Quwaysi, was diplomed of the Salamati Aviation School of Dar Al Hamma on May 7 1972, he totalized 3944 flight hours. The copilot, Firas Al Hashimi, was diplomed of the same school on June 21 1981, and totalized 212 flight hours.