Olympic Airways Flight 411
 The airplane involved in the incident, seen in TWA colours in 1986. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 9, 1978 |
| Summary | Engine explosion at takeoff, resulting in loss of thrust |
| Site | Athens, Greece |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 747-200 |
| Aircraft name | Olympic Zeus |
| Operator | Olympic Airways |
| Registration | SX-OAA |
| Flight origin | Ellinikon International Airport |
| Destination | John F. Kennedy International Airport |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 400+ |
Olympic Airways Flight 411, from Ellinikon International Airport bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport operated using a Boeing 747-200 on August 9, 1978 came close to crashing in downtown Athens following an engine explosion while taking off. Despite maneuvers near the edge of the flight envelope, none of the 418 passengers or crew suffered serious injury.
Flight details[edit]
Background[edit]
The Boeing 747 was the first "jumbo jet". It was a prestige aircraft in the 1970's and purchased by many airlines as a fleet flagship.[1] Olympic Airways was the flag carrier for Greece and had purchased 747's for some of its prime routes, including a non-stop between Athens and New York.[2] It received its first 747, registered as SX-OAA in June, 1973.[3] The large passenger capacity meant lower per-seat costs to the airlines that operated it.[1] For Olympic, this included large numbers of American tourists could be accommodated.[2] Ellinikon in the Athens suburb of Elliniko was the international airport for the capital city and the primary entry and departure point for Americans visiting Greece.
The pilot of the incident flight, Sifis Migadis, had 32 years of experience with Olympic[4] The co-pilot K. Fikardos was also considered experienced and was a close friend of Migadis.[5]
Accident aircraft[edit]
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SX-OAA, named "Olympic Zeus" was the first -200 series 747 that Olympic purchased and fitted in a two-class configuration with executive class seating on the upper deck and nose section of the lower deck and economy class for the remainder of the lower deck.[6]
Flight summary[edit]
Just before takeoff, the crew heard an explosion.[2] Engine #3 had exploded and the flight was at a point where immediately aborting the takeoff was extremely difficult.[7] the plane climbed sluggishly to an altitude of just 209 metres (686 ft) as it approached the 200 metres (660 ft) tall Pani hill in Alimos.[2] As it passed over Kallithea, Nea Smyrni and Syggrou the altitude decreased to only 50 metres (160 ft)[5]. People watching from the ground saw the huge belly of the plane passing over.[4] The larger obstacle of Mount Aigaleo at 469 metres (1,539 ft) was of great concern because the low airspeed of 257.5 kilometres per hour (160.0 mph) and minimal altitude did not leave the flight crew enough room to execute a normal banked turn.[5] The plane was flying at a speed slightly higher than that of the limit for a stall which made a simple climb impossible. At 2:05 p.m, a light breeze gave the plane some height, which made it possible for Migadis to make a gradual turn to avoid crashing into the slopes.[8] The aircraft returned to Ellinikon International Airport safely.
Investigation[edit]
The plane's water injection system had been left on prior to take-off, and the flight engineer failed to notice this during pre-flight checks, flipping the switch to the 'off' position.[8] Without water injection to cool off the engines, engine number three exploded.
See also[edit]
- Olympic Airways Flight 830
- Olympic Aviation Flight 545
- British Airtours Flight 28M
- British Airways Flight 2276
- American Airlines Flight 383 (2016)
- El Al Flight 1862
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tegler, Eric (6 July 2020). "Why the 747 Is Such a Badass Plane". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Σίφης Μιγάδης: Ο πιλότος που πέταξε με κατεστραμμένο κινητήρα πάνω από την Αθήνα". In.gr (in Greek). 21 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "Airliners PAST:Olympic Airways receives it's [sic] First * Boeing 747 SX-OAA". YouTube. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Andreadis, Panagiotis (8 October 2018). "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ένας πιλότος θρύλος της Ολυμπιακής που κατάφερε να σώσει … ένα "χαμένο" αεροπλάνο". People News (in Greek). Retrieved 9 October 2020.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ο ήρωας πιλότος της ολυμπιακής που έσωσε εκατοντάδες ανθρώπους από βέβαιο θάνατο!". Athens Magazine (in Greek). 15 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ Stretton, Richard. "Olympic Zeus: Greek 747s". Yesterday's Airlines. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ο πιλότος-θρύλος της Ολυμπιακής που έσωσε 418 επιβάτες από βέβαιο θανατο (βίντεο)". Globe news (in Greek). 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2020.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Πτήση 411". Πρώτο Πλάνο. ANT1.
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 37°43′37″N 26°37′16″E / 37.7270°N 26.6210°E
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