Turkish Airlines Flight 981

Turkish Airlines Flight 981

TC-JAV, the aircraft destroyed in the accident, taxiing at London Heathrow Airport, 6 May 1973.
Accident summary
Date	3 March 1974
Summary	Aircraft design flaw, cargo door failure leading to explosive decompression, destruction of control systems, and loss of control
Site	Ermenonville Forest Fontaine-Chaalis, Oise, France 49°08.5′N 002°38′E / 49.1417°N 2.633°E / 49.1417; 2.633Coordinates: 49°08.5′N 002°38′E / 49.1417°N 2.633°E / 49.1417; 2.633
Passengers	335
Crew	11
Fatalities	346 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10
Aircraft name	Ankara
Operator	Turkish Airlines
Registration	TC-JAV
Flight origin	Yesilköy Int'l Airport Istanbul, Turkey
Last stopover	Orly Airport Paris, France
Destination	London Heathrow Airport London, United Kingdom

External image

Pre-crash photo at Hamburg Airport taken from Airliners.net courtesy of M. Maibrink

Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a regularly scheduled flight from Istanbul Yesilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport with an intermediate stop in Paris at Orly Airport. On 3 March 1974 the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into the Ermenonville forest outside Paris, killing all 346 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest plane crash in aviation history. It still remains the fourth-deadliest plane crash in aviation history, is the deadliest involving a DC-10, the second deadliest with no survivors, the deadliest to have occurred on French soil, and the second worst aviation accident in Europe. The crash was also known as the Ermenonville air disaster, from the forest where the aircraft crashed.

The crash was caused when an improperly secured cargo door at the rear of the plane broke off, causing an explosive decompression which severed cables necessary to control the aircraft. Because of a known design flaw left uncorrected before and after the production of DC-10s, the cargo hatches did not latch reliably, and manual procedures were relied upon to ensure they were locked correctly. Problems with the hatches had occurred previously, most notably in an identical incident that happened on American Airlines Flight 96 in 1972, the so-called "Windsor Incident". Investigation showed that the handles on the hatches could be improperly forced shut without the latching pins locking in place. It was noted that the pins on the hatch that failed on Flight 981 had been filed down to make it easier to close the door, resulting in the hatch being less resistant to pressure. Also, a support plate for the handle linkage had not been installed, although manufacturer documents showed this work as completed. Finally, the latching had been performed by a baggage handler who did not speak Turkish or English, the only languages provided on a warning notice about the cargo door's design flaws and the methods of compensating for them. After the disaster, the latches were redesigned and the locking system significantly upgraded.

The aircraft, a DC-10 Series 10 (production designation Ship 29), was built in Long Beach, California, under the manufacturer's test registration N1337U, and leased to Turkish Airlines as TC-JAV on 10 December 1972. The plane, owned by Mitsui, was originally to be purchased by All Nippon Airways, but the Japanese airline declined the aircraft in favor of the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. It had 12 six-abreast first-class seats and 333 nine-abreast economy seats, for a total of 345 passenger seats. At the time of the accident there were only two people seated in first class, while economy class was fully occupied. The flight crew were all Turkish. Flight attendant nationalities included 4 from the U.K, 3 French and 1 Turkish. Flight 981's captain was Nejat Berköz, age 44, with 7,000 flying hours. First Officer Oral Ulusman, 38, had 5,600 hours flying time, and Flight Engineer Erhan Özer, 37, had 2,120 flying hours experience.