Thai Airways International Flight 601
| Industry | Airline |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Thailand |
| Products | Air transport services |
On 30 June 1967, Thai Airways International Flight 601, operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle III, crashed into the sea while attempting to land at the former Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong amid a typhoon. The journey began at Haneda Airport in Japan, with scheduled stops at Songshan Airport in Taiwan and Kai Tak, before continuing to its final destination at Don Mueang Airport in Thailand.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III (MSN 25), bearing the registration HS-TGI, produced by Sud Aviation in 1960. It had logged around 17,350 flight hours and was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Avon 527 engines.
Crew
The cockpit crew comprised Captain Viggo Thorsen, aged 43, who had accumulated 7,800 total flying hours, including 3,700 hours on the Caravelle model. The first officer, Sanit Khemanand, aged 50, possessed 18,400 total flight hours with 2,300 of those on the Caravelle.
Accident
Flight 601 of Thai Airways International took off from Taipei Songshan Airport bound for Kai Tak Airport on a flight lasting approximately one hour, carrying 80 individuals: 73 passengers and seven crew members. During the ILS approach to runway 31 at Kai Tak, the pilots concentrated on establishing visual ground contact but failed to realize that the aircraft had dropped below the decision height of . While already beneath the glide slope, a sudden change in heading occurred followed by a rapid descent. The plane ultimately crashed into the sea, resulting in the deaths of 24 passengers.
Probable cause
The primary cause of the crash was attributed to pilot error, particularly the failure to detect descent below the prescribed glide slope. Severe wind shear and downdrafts associated with Typhoon Anita (Gening) during the 1967 Pacific typhoon season likely played a role; however, no technology existed at that time to detect such conditions. Contributing factors included:
- Failure to adhere to Thai Airways' captain-supervised Instrument approach protocols under low visibility conditions.
- Insufficient oversight of the approach phase by the captain.
- The sudden heading alteration below minimum safe altitude probably increased the descent rate.
- Weather-related downdrafts and wind shear may have aggravated altitude loss caused by pilot mismanagement.