Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701

Ariana Afghan Airlines

Industry	Airline
Founded	1955
Headquarters	Kabul , Afghanistan

Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 met with disaster on 5 January 1969 when a Boeing 727 carrying 62 individuals crashed. The plane collided with a residential building close to London Gatwick Airport while attempting to land in thick fog. The investigation identified pilot error as the main factor, specifically the failure to deploy flaps necessary to sustain the proper final approach speed.

The incident took place at 01:35 GMT on a Sunday morning amid dense, freezing fog surrounding Gatwick. The Boeing 727, bearing registration YA-FAR—the sole aircraft of its type in the airline’s fleet—descended beneath the intended glide path while approaching from the east. Near the small settlement of Fernhill, West Sussex, located close to the Surrey/Sussex boundary, the plane struck trees and rooftops, rolled over, and crashed into a field approximately short of the runway threshold. Subsequently, it collided with and demolished a large detached residence, igniting a fire.

The tragedy resulted in 48 fatalities among passengers and crew members, along with two adults inside the house. An infant survived with only minor injuries. The captain, first officer, flight engineer, and eleven passengers also escaped unharmed.

Location

Fernhill is a hamlet situated roughly from Gatwick Airport’s eastern runway end and about the same distance south of the closest town, Horley. Prior to boundary adjustments in 1990 that fully incorporated it into West Sussex and the borough of Crawley, Fernhill straddled the Sussex/Surrey border within the parish of Burstow. The area’s main thoroughfares are Peeks Brook Lane running south to north and Fernhill Road (formerly Fernhill Lane) oriented west to east.

The crash site was located in a field west of Peeks Brook Lane, south of Fernhill Lane, and east of Balcombe Road—a B-road marking Gatwick Airport’s eastern perimeter. Antlands Lane lies farther south. The impact destroyed a house named Longfield, positioned south of Fernhill Lane.

Accident

Flight FG 701 operated as a weekly scheduled journey from Kabul International Airport to Gatwick Airport with planned stops at Kandahar, Istanbul, and Frankfurt. A crew change occurred at Beirut, where Captain Nowroz, First Officer Attayee, and Flight Engineer Formuly took command.

On the night spanning 4–5 January 1969, Gatwick was enveloped in heavy freezing fog; however, operations continued under international aviation standards. Visibility fluctuated between and , with ambient temperature recorded at . Nearby alternate airports such as London Stansted Airport and London Heathrow Airport reported clearer weather conditions. The aircraft had adequate fuel reserves for either diversion or return to Frankfurt, retaining about at the time of impact.

While approaching Fernhill within of Gatwick’s runway, the plane clipped oak trees within Twinyards’ garden on Peeks Brook Lane before damaging roofs and chimney stacks nearby as it flew just above ground level. It struck a television antenna and additional trees on its right wing, causing banking motion. The landing gear briefly touched down but failed to clear Longfield, a detached home owned by William and Ann Jones located westward. The aircraft obliterated the dwelling; one engine and the aft fuselage section landed amid debris while the forward fuselage fragmented over a stretch. Fuel leakage led to an immediate fire that consumed both fuselage wreckage and house remains. The Jones couple perished; their infant survived minor injuries sheltered by collapsed cot sides beneath an engine.

Local inhabitants were first on scene and alerted emergency responders. Surrey Police received notification at 0138; officers arrived within seven minutes followed by PC Keith Simmonds from Oxted station who rescued the injured baby. Fire brigades responded starting at 0156, deploying twenty vehicles from Surrey and Sussex services along with additional units from the British Airports Authority. Board of Trade investigators led by George Kelly also attended. Despite police establishing roadblocks on Fernhill Lane and rerouting traffic via Antlands Lane, rescue efforts were impeded by crowds obstructing narrow lanes.

Aircraft

The Boeing 727 involved in the accident was under one year old and represented Ariana's sole aircraft of this model. Registered as YA-FAR, it was manufactured in February 1968, obtained its American airworthiness certificate on 25 March 1968, and received Afghan registration on 29 April 1968. Afghanistan granted its own airworthiness certificate on 14 May 1968. At the time of the crash, the airplane had accumulated 1,715 flight hours.

The wreckage was examined by investigators from the Board of Trade at a hangar located at Farnborough Airport. Representatives from both the United States and Afghanistan also took part in the investigation. A preliminary report was released on 17 January 1969, followed by a comprehensive accident report published in June 1970.

Crew and passengers

Captain Rahim Nowroz, First Officer Abdul-Zaher Attayee, and Flight Engineer Mohammed-Hussain Formuly survived the crash but sustained severe injuries. Unfortunately, all five flight attendants aboard lost their lives. Captain Nowroz had been certified since 1956 and had logged a total of 10,400 flight hours, including 512 hours on Boeing 727 aircraft after completing training in 1968.

Out of the 54 passengers onboard, 43 perished while 11 suffered serious injuries; most survivors were seated toward the front of the aircraft. Except for a single U.S. national, all passengers originated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India—particularly from the Punjab region. The group included British residents returning from visits as well as recent immigrants.

Aftermath

Emergency responders established a temporary triage and rescue station near Yew Tree Cottage and later set up an incident command center at Horley police station. Survivors were initially taken to Fernhill House before transfer to Redhill General Hospital or, for five individuals with severe burns, to the McIndoe Burns Unit at East Grinstead Hospital. Two passengers succumbed en route to Redhill. The infant survivor received treatment at Redhill for "severe bruising and minor cuts."

The deceased were moved to a temporary mortuary at St. John Ambulance Hall in Horley for identification purposes; some bodies were so badly burned that personal belongings were used for confirmation. Subsequently, other remains were transferred to Kenyon's undertakers in London. Investigations into the 50 fatalities commenced immediately, with the first inquest taking place in Reigate on 10 January 1969.

Condolences were sent by Queen Elizabeth II to Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan. Five police officers, including PC Simmonds, were awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for their exemplary actions at the crash scene. Additionally, five local civilians and one passenger received this honor for rescuing relatives and extinguishing flames on another individual.

This tragedy remains the deadliest aviation accident near Gatwick Airport. It marked the first significant incident there since a February 1959 crash involving a Vickers Viscount operated by Turkish Airlines, which resulted in the deaths of 14 passengers and injuries to Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes.

Investigation and cause

The investigation concluded that pilot error by the captain was responsible for the crash. His decision to attempt landing at Gatwick was deemed an "error of judgment" influenced by challenging weather conditions that were "deceptive" in nature; however, this alone did not directly cause the accident. The primary factor was improper extension of flaps at incorrect speeds, which led to descent below the glide slope, a right roll while maintaining a nose-high attitude, culminating in impact.

The report verified that YA-FAR was equipped with a fully functional instrument panel, operational VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR), and Instrument Landing System (ILS) equipment. Communication with air traffic control proceeded normally, and both cockpit voice and flight data recorders were recovered for analysis.

Captain Nowroz’s choice to proceed to London instead of remaining at Frankfurt was not faulted; alternative airports such as Heathrow or Stansted offered clear weather conditions, as did returning to Germany. At the time of approach, Gatwick’s runway visual range measured 100 m—below British minimum landing standards but allowed under foreign carrier regulations. Ariana Afghan Airlines pilots were instructed not to land below declared minima but could use discretion to descend to critical height (200 ft) before making final decisions.

The captain opted to attempt landing at Gatwick due to intermittent patchy fog conditions. The report highlighted that reliance on visual references may have diverted his attention from essential flight duties; patchy fog is known to contribute to significant misjudgments.

Nevertheless, his decision was considered to involve "no undue risk" and was not causal to the accident. Instead, deviations from airline procedures involving speed adjustments, power settings, and flap configurations occurred during the final 15 miles. After intercepting the ILS localizer beam at 0128 hours, flaps were lowered incrementally as speed decreased; landing gear was extended prematurely; subsequently, a misidentified light caused disengagement of autopilot and glideslope tracker due to a false stabilizer warning.

At approximately 0133 hours, an increase in flap angle induced a sharp nose-down pitch and rapid descent below the approach path while traveling faster than expected. The crew's reaction lagged roughly 45 seconds before applying full power and elevator input at about 300 feet—too late to recover.

Initial flap settings occurred at speeds exceeding airline recommendations but still within Boeing 727 operational limits. The early extension of landing gear and subsequent flap changes should have been more gradual according to protocol. The delayed crew response may have resulted from focusing on visual runway confirmation rather than monitoring instruments.

Following this incident, regulations were revised in September 1969 to forbid all aircraft—both domestic and international—from landing at UK airports when runway visual range falls below established minimums.

See also

• American Airlines Flight 383
• Garuda Indonesia Flight 150

External links

• "Air Transport: Ariana Accident: Initial Findings". Flight International, 23 January 1969. pp. 127–128.
• Aviation Safety Network – Detailed accident report
• Airdisaster.com – Incident overview
• "Image of YA-FAR Boeing 727-113C" – Airliners.com
• "Accident Report: Boeing 727-112C YA-FAR, 1.5 miles east of London (Gatwick) Airport, 5 January 1969" – Gatwick Aviation Society
• "Significant Boeing 727 Crashes and Events" – airsafe.com
• "Gatwick Aircraft Accident", HC Deb 20 January 1969 vol 776 cc40-4 – Hansard
• "Boeing Crash at Gatwick, 1969" – British Pathe
• "Accident Information" – planecrashinfo.com
• "Photograph of the Wreckage" – airdisaster.com
• Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript and accident summary
• "Pilot Error Cited in England Plane Crash" – The Evening Independent, 6 January 1969