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Air China Flight 129 (CCA129/CA129) was a scheduled international passenger flight, operated by Air China, from Beijing Capital International Airport to Gimhae International Airport in Busan. On April 15, 2002, the aircraft on this route, a Boeing 767-200ER, crashed into a hill near the airport, killing 129 of the 166 people on board.[1]

Air China Flight 129

B-2552, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1997
Accident
Date	April 15, 2002 (2002-04-15)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and ATC error
Site	Mount Dotdae, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, South Korea[1] 35.2327°N 128.9280°E / 35.2327; 128.9280
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-2J6ER
Operator	Air China
IATA flight No.	CA129
ICAO flight No.	CCA129
Call sign	AIR CHINA 129
Registration	B-2552
Flight origin	Beijing Capital International Airport
Destination	Gimhae International Airport
Occupants	166
Passengers	155
Crew	11
Fatalities	129
Injuries	37
Survivors	37

The Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board published the final report in March 2005 and concluded that the crash was due to pilot error. The final report stated that the crew was inadvertently flying below the minimum safe altitude. Detailed information from the report also revealed that the pilots had been trained to conduct a circling approach in the airline's simulator only for Beijing Capital International Airport and never for a circling approach to Gimhae Airport's runway 18R. Subsequently, the report also blamed the tower controllers at Gimhae Airport for not using the tower BRITE and MSAW systems after losing visual contact with the aircraft.[1] The Civil Aviation Administration of China responded to the Korean official report by pointing out that Park Junyong, the ATC official during the accident, was not licensed for air traffic control and issued incorrect orders due to his inexperience with the Boeing 767.[2]

Flight 129 is currently recorded as the deadliest aviation accident in South Korea.[3][4]

Accident

The flight took off at 08:37 local time (00:37 UTC). After nearly two hours in flight, it arrived near Gimhae Airport in light rain and mist.

At 11:16 local time (02:16 UTC), CA129 received clearance to use ILS approach to runway 36L, then circle to runway 18R (the same runway from the opposite direction) from Gimhae tower. During the circling approach to land on runway 18R, the crew exercised poor crew resource management and lost sight of the runway while delaying the base turn and flying outside of the circling approach area, and crashed into a hill at 11:21 local time (02:21 UTC). The aircraft made initial contact with the terrain when its right wing clipped a tree. It then impacted the ground, and the force of the impact broke the airplane apart. The right wing, empennage, left wing, parts of the fuselage and two engines separated. The plane then burst into flames, engulfing the cockpit and forward fuselage. The aircraft slid and destroyed several trees and 12 graves. Thirty-seven of those on board survived, including the captain. The post-impact fire was so hot that it melted the aluminum and other metals of the fuselage. The front part of the fuselage was completely destroyed, making it difficult for investigators to recognize it.[1]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 767-200ER registered in China as B-2552. It was delivered in 1985 and had Boeing Serial Number 23308 and Line Number 127. It was previously operated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and then transferred to Air China after CAAC's split. It had accumulated more than 40,000 hours of flying and about 14,500 flights.[5][6][7]

Passengers and crew

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
China	19	11	30
South Korea	135	0	135
Iran	1[8] [failed verification]	0	1
Total	155	11	166

Among the 155 passengers, 135 were from South Korea, 19 were from China, and one was from Iranian-Uzbek who board to plane with Uzbekistan passport. All 11 of the crew were from China.[9]

The flight deck crew were:

• Captain Wu Xinlu (30).[lower-alpha 1] Captain Wu Xinlu entered the Civil Aviation Flying University of China in September 1990 and graduated in 1994. He then joined Air China, and in 2001 he was promoted to captain and after 26 November 2001, he officially flew as a captain. He had 6,497 hours of flying experience (including 6,287 hours on the Boeing 767) and had flown five times to Busan.[1]^: 20–21
• First Officer Gao Lijie (29).[lower-alpha 2] First Officer (Co-Pilot) Gao Lijie entered the Airforce Academy in August 1989 and graduated in September 1993. He joined Air China and completed his first flight as first officer on 23 February 2002. Prior to becoming a first officer, he had flown twice to Busan. He had accumulated 5,295 hours of flying experience, with 1,215 of them on the Boeing 767.[1]^: 21–22
• Second Officer Hou Xiangning (27).[lower-alpha 3] Second Officer (Third Pilot) Hou Xiangning attended the Civil Aviation Flying University of China from September 1993 to June 1997 and was hired by Air China in August 1997. Hou had no experience of landing in Busan. He had accumulated 1,775 hours of flying experience, including 1,078 hours on the Boeing 767.[1]^: 22

The captain and two of the flight attendants survived.[1]^: 1[10]

Investigation

Weather

At Gimhae Airport, the winds come from the north in autumn and winter. However, in spring and summer, the winds come from the south. Visibility is often partially poor due to sea fog, since the southern part of the airport is located close to the sea. Mountainous terrain in the north with southerly winds prevailing may cause a mass of low clouds and fog to occur along the mountainous area north of Runway 18R, with a probability of increased precipitation in the area.

Weather at the time of crash was poor. Satellite imagery retrieved from the Korea Meteorological Administration radar showed that a large, wide area of rain clouds could be seen, starting from Busan to the southeast as far as Japan and moving slowly to the east. The clouds moved very slowly, and heavy clouds were seen lying in the sea south of Gimhae. Gusts of up to 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) were also observed. Rescue squads at the crash site also reported that it was covered with thick fog, with the precipitation heavier than a drizzle.[1]

Airport lighting

Investigators interviewed Captain Wu, who stated that as he observed the lights on the final approach course to Runway 36L, he saw that neither the runway approach lights on the downwind leg nor the circling guidance lights during the circling approach were on. According to the record of the automatic aeronautical light switching system and the testimony from the Gimhae Tower duty chief, the runway, approach lights and circling guidance lights were on at the time of the accident.[1]

Survivors' statements

There were a total of 166 occupants on board, composed of 11 crew members and 155 passengers, including five children with ages ranging from three to nine years old. On the day of the accident, 39 people survived the crash with serious injuries. A passenger died the following day and 16 days later another passenger died.[1]

Based on interviews of the survivors on board Flight 129, it was revealed that the accident occurred suddenly, with loud noise and violent shaking of the aircraft at the point of impact. All items inside the aircraft fell down, seats were thrust forward, and all lights went out, making it dark inside the aircraft. The fire filled the cabin with heavy smoke, which made it difficult to breathe. Most of the passengers briefly lost consciousness during impact, with the feet and legs of some passengers forced under the seats in front of them. A flight attendant who was seated at the aft right position stated that his body was crushed underneath something. He reached to open the door, but could not find the handle. He crawled out of the cabin and evacuated the survivors. The survivors then escaped by walking or crawling through the gaps in the broken fuselage. As they escaped, several large explosions were heard, with pillars of fire shooting up high into the sky.[1]

The pre-flight safety demonstration and announcements were made in Chinese and English, but not in Korean. Some of the 135 Korean passengers stated they did not understand them. The Korean investigation board recommended that Air China add announcements in Korean to flights to and from South Korea.[1]^: 138[11]

Official report by the Korean authorities

Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder were retrieved from the crash site and examined by investigators. The FDR data did not show any defect in the aircraft's controls and instruments.

The official accident report by the Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board was released on 4 March 2005. The Probable Cause read:

1. The flight crew of flight 129 performed the circling approach, not being aware of the weather minima of wide-body aircraft (B767-200) for landing, and in the approach briefing, did not include the missed approach, etc., among the items specified in Air China’s operations and training manuals.
2. The flight crew exercised poor crew resource management and lost situational awareness during the circling approach to runway 18R, which led them to fly outside of the circling approach area, delaying the base turn, contrary to the captain’s intention to make a timely base turn.
3. The flight crew did not execute a missed approach when they lost sight of the runway during the circling approach to runway 18R, which led them to strike high terrain (mountain) near the airport.
4. When the first officer advised the captain to execute a missed approach, about five seconds before impact, the captain did not react, nor did the first officer initiate the missed approach himself.

Official comments by the Chinese authorities

The Civil Aviation Administration of China published a 28-page side-by-side comments on the Korean official report.[12] Besides, Liu Yajun, the head of the Chinese investigation team, pointed out,[13]

1. An ATC official in the airport, Park Junyong, was not licensed for air traffic control by the South Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry.
2. Park did not know the properties of the aircraft, a Boeing 767, and mistakenly directed the airliner to descend to 700 feet (213.5 m) instead of directing the airliner to descend to 1,100 (335.5 m), which is the recommended safe altitude for a Boeing 767.
3. The airport did not inform the crew of the weather conditions at the time. Eight flights before CA129 had been directed to land at other airports because of bad weather.
4. There were also problems with the radar system and lighting at Gimhae Airport.

Television portrayal

The investigation was covered in "Turning Point", a 2017 episode (S17E03)[14] of Mayday, a Canadian documentary television series about air crashes.

See also

• Ground proximity warning system

Other similar accidents:

• 1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash, which caused the demise of Dag Hammarskjöld, then-Secretary-General of the United Nations
• 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash
• 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash, which led to the death of basketball player Kobe Bryant
• Air Inter Flight 148
• AIRES Flight 8250
• American Airlines Flight 965
• Asiana Airlines Flight 733, the previous deadliest plane crash in South Korea which also happened under similar circumstances
• Cebu Pacific Flight 387, the second-deadliest aviation accident in the Philippines
• Crossair Flight 3597
• Dan-Air Flight 1008
• Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, the deadliest aviation accident in Indonesia
• Independent Air Flight 1851, the deadliest plane crash to occur in Portugal
• Korean Air Flight 801
• Prinair Flight 277
• Smolensk air disaster, which infamously killed Polish president Lech Kaczyński
• United Airlines Flight 2860
• Vietnam Airlines Flight 815

Notes

References

External links

External video
"How This Tour Guide's Mistake Saved His Group's Lives". Smithsonian Channel. 2018-10-05. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.

• McKinney, Dick (September 2002). "Circling Traps: How To Avoid A Similar Fate To Air China 129". Business & Commercial Aviation (published September 18, 2018).
• "South Korean Airport Has Responsibility for Air China Crash". Xinhua News Agency. November 27, 2002.
• "CA129 Final Report" (PDF). Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board. March 4, 2005. - English Translation
• (in Korean) CA129 Final Report - Korea Aviation Accident Investigation Board - This is the original report; the English version states that if there are differences between the English and Korean versions, the Korean version has precedence.
• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

На других языках

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[de] Air-China-Flug 129

Air-China-Flug 129, auch CA129 oder CCA129, war ein Linienflug der von der Volksrepublik China betriebenen Air China. Am 15. April 2002 flog die Boeing 767-200ER vom Flughafen Peking zum Gimhae International Airport in Busan in Südkorea. Während des Fluges prallte die Maschine gegen einen Berg in der Nähe von Busan, wobei 129 der 166 Insassen getötet wurden. Flug 129 war Air Chinas erster Flugunfall und der Flugunfall mit den meisten Opfern in Südkorea. Außerdem war er nach EgyptAir-Flug 990 und Lauda-Air-Flug 004 der Unfall mit der drittgrößten Zahl an Opfern einer Boeing 767 sowie der mit der fünftgrößten Zahl an Opfern inklusive der Terroranschläge am 11. September 2001.

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- [en] Air China Flight 129

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[fr] Vol Air China 129

Le vol Air China 129 était un vol reliant Pékin à l'aéroport international de Gimhae en Corée du Sud. Le 15 avril 2002, le Boeing 767-200ER, s'est écrasé sur une colline près de Busan, tuant 129 des 166 passagers à bord. C'est le premier accident d'avion pour la compagnie d'Air China[2].

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[it] Volo Air China 129

Il volo Air China 129 era un volo di linea fra l'aeroporto di Pechino-Capitale e l'Aeroporto Internazionale di Pusan-Gimhae. Il 15 aprile 2002, il Boeing 767 che lo effettuava si è schiantato su una collina vicino a Pusan, uccidendo 129 delle 166 persone a bordo.[1]

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[ru] Катастрофа Boeing 767 в Пусане

Катастрофа Boeing 767 в Пусане — крупная авиационная катастрофа, произошедшая в понедельник 15 апреля 2002 года. Авиалайнер Boeing 767-2J6ER авиакомпании Air China выполнял плановый рейс CA129 по маршруту Пекин—Пусан, но при заходе на посадку врезался в склон горы Тотхэ в 4,6 километрах от аэропорта Пусана и полностью разрушился. Из находившихся на его борту 166 человек (155 пассажиров и 11 членов экипажа) выжили 37.

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