Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933
 LN-MOO at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in 1967 |
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 13, 1969 |
| Summary | Pilot error |
| Site | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Passengers | 36 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Injuries | 17 |
| Fatalities | 15 |
| Survivors | 30 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-62 |
| Aircraft name | Sverre Viking |
| Operator | Scandinavian Airlines System |
| Registration | LN-MOO |
| Flight origin | Copenhagen Airport |
| Stopover | Seattle–Tacoma International Airport |
| Destination | Los Angeles International Airport |
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 was a crash into Santa Monica Bay at 19:21 Pacific Standard Time (PST) on January 13, 1969, approximately 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of Los Angeles International Airport in California, United States. The crash of the McDonnell Douglas DC-8 Series 62, with Norwegian registry LN-MOO and named Sverre Viking, was caused by pilot error during approach to runway 07R. The pilots were so occupied with the nose gear light not turning green that they failed to keep track of their height. The aircraft had a crew of nine and thirty-six passengers; thirty people survived while fifteen perished. The flight originated at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, and had a stop-over at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Washington, where there was a change of crew.
Accident
The accident occurred in the waters of Santa Monica Bay while the crew was attempting an instrument approach to Runway 07R at Los Angeles International Airport. The SAS cockpit crew became so occupied with attempting to diagnose the lack of a nose gear green light that they allowed their rate of descent to increase until the DC-8-62 crashed into the ocean, well short of the runway. Of the 45 persons aboard the aircraft, 3 passengers and 1 cabin attendant drowned; 9 passengers and 2 cabin attendants were never found and presumed dead; 11 passengers and 6 crew members, including the captain, the co-pilot and the flight engineer, were injured in varying degrees; and 13 passengers escaped without reported injury. The aircraft was destroyed by impact.[1]
The fuselage broke into three pieces, two of which sank in approximately 350 feet (110 m) of water. The third section, including the wings, the forward cabin and the cockpit, floated for about 20 hours before being towed into shallow water where it sank. This section was later recovered and removed from the water.[2]
Probable cause
- "...the probable cause of this accident was the lack of crew coordination and the inadequate monitoring of the aircraft position in space during a critical phase of an instrument landing approach which resulted in an unplanned descent into the water. Contributing to this unplanned descent was an apparent unsafe landing gear condition induced by the design of the landing gear indicator lights, and the omission of the minimum crossing altitude at an approach fix depicted on the approach chart."[3]
External links
- NTBS, National Transportation Safety Board Brief summary of this accident
- NTSB complete report on this accident.
- Harrison, Scott. "SAS jetliner crashes off L.A. coast, 1969." Los Angeles Times. May 10, 2011.
- Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
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Coordinates: 33°55′14″N 118°31′58″W / 33.92056°N 118.53278°W
