Lufthansa Flight 527
Lufthansa Flight 527 was a Lufthansa cargo flight scheduled to fly from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Shortly after take-off in Rio, the cargo aircraft Boeing 707 flew into a slope and crashed. All 3 crew members, consisting of the captain, the first officer, and a flight engineer died and there were no survivors. The principal cause of the crash was the failure of air traffic controllers to pay the necessary attention to each aircraft and ensure the necessary attention to rising terrain.
_at_FRA.jpg.webp) D-ABUY, the aircraft involved in the accident seen in September 1978 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 26 July 1979 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to ATC error and pilot error |
| Site | 25 kilometres (16 mi; 13 nmi) North of Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 22°34′58″S 43°12′57″W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-330C |
| Operator | Lufthansa |
| Registration | D-ABUY |
| Flight origin | Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport
 Brazil |
| Destination | Dakar-Yoff International Airport
 Senegal |
| Passengers | 0 (Cargo Flight) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Accident
Flight 527 departed Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport at 21:27 UTC and was instructed by air traffic control (ATC) to climb to 2,000 feet (610 m) report passing the Caxias VHF omnidirectional range (VOR), and to increase their speed.
The crew increased the aircraft's speed to 304 knots,[1] as per instruction, despite the maximum speed being at 250 knots, when the altitude is less than 10,000 feet (3,000 m)
After communicating his instructions, the controller monitoring Flight 527 turned to focus on other flights near Rio, and was unware of Flight 527 overspeeding.[2]
By the time the controller resumed communications with Flight 527, he saw that the flight was further north than expected due to its greater speed. He then radioed the crew: "Lufthansa, turn right heading 140, just now, over. Lufthansa 527, turn right heading 140 and climb without restrictions." The crew responded: "Roger, leaving 2 thousand, LH 527, turning right heading 140." Shortly after this transmission, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) activated and at 21:32 UTC the aircraft flew against a bunch of tress and crashed into a mountain, leaving a trail of debris 800 metres (2,600 ft) long.[2]
Investigation
The main cause was found to be the failure of Brazilian air traffic controllers to pay the necessary attention to each aircraft and thus both stagger the aircraft among themselves and ensure the necessary distances to rising terrain.
The high speed of the Boeing 707 - as instructed by the controller - and the fact that the crew accepted an incorrect release of the controllers also contributed to the accident. Normally, this includes a departure route to a so-called clearance limit, up to which the aircraft is allowed to fly at most. Even when asked by the pilots, air traffic control gave only an unclear answer. In the clearance for LH527 this information was missing, so the crew continued to fly on the set course instead of asking air traffic control for new instructions. In the last almost two minutes there was no communication between LH527 and air traffic control.[2]
References
- Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-330C D-ABUY Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, RJ (GIG)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- "ICAO Circular 173-AN/109" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2014-06-20.