China Southern Airlines Flight 3456
1997 passenger plane crash in Shenzhen, China
22°38′25″N 113°48′39″E / 22.6402°N 113.8109°E / 22.6402; 113.8109China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 (CZ3456/CSN3456) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Shenzhen Huangtian Airport (now Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport). On 8 May 1997, the Boeing 737 performing this route crashed during the second attempt to land in a thunderstorm.[1] The flight number 3456 is still used by China Southern and for the Chongqing-Shenzhen route but now with the Airbus A320 family or Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft.[2]
Background
Aircraft
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-31B registered as B-2925 and with serial number 27288. The aircraft was delivered to China Southern on 2 February 1994, and had recorded over 8,500 hours before the crash. The aircraft was powered by 2 CFM International CFM56-3C1 turbofan engines.[1][3][4][5]
Flight crew
The captain in command was 45-year-old Lin Yougui (Chinese: 林友贵), he had logged more than 12,700 hours of total flying time, including 9,100 hours as Radio Operator and 3,600 hours as a pilot. The first officer was 36-year-old Kong Dexin (孔德新), he had logged over 15,500 hours of total flying time, of which 11,200 hours as flight engineer and 4,300 hours as a pilot.[1]
Weather
The weather reported by Shenzhen Airport from 17:00 of 8 May to 02:00 of 9 May was: "170 degrees wind at 7 m/s (14 kn; 25 km/h; 16 mph) with rain, visibility 6,000 metres (20,000 ft), overcast at 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), variable winds at 15 metres per second (29 kn; 54 km/h; 34 mph), thunderstorm may appear."
At 18:00, on 8 May, a severe weather warning was issued: "report to airports, air traffic controls and airline companies: Thunderstorm with strong winds will appear, all departments including the crew who will be taking off should be notified." At 21:33, the weather recorded was 290 degrees wind at 7 m/s (14 kn; 25 km/h; 16 mph), visibility 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), showers, low clouds at 210 metres (690 ft), cumulonimbus at 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), temperature at 23 °C (73 °F).[1]
Accident
On 8 May 1997, Flight 3456 took off from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at 19:45 local time (UTC+8), expected to arrive Shenzhen Huangtian Airport at 21:30. At 21:07, the Shenzhen Airport approach controller cleared the flight to the approach of Runway 33. At 21:17, the Tower informed the crew "heavy rain on final, advise when spotting the runway". At 21:18:07, the crew stated they have established ILS approach. At 21:18:53, the crew advised ATC that they spotted the approach lightings, and the controller cleared the aircraft to land. The controller was able to see the landing light of the plane, but it was not clear due to the rain. At 21:19:33, the aircraft touched down on the south of the runway, bounced three times, and damaged the aircraft's nose gear, hydraulic systems and flaps. The crew decided to go around.[6]
The aircraft made a left turn while climbing up to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). The crew were asked to turn on the transponder to show the ATC their position, but the secondary surveillance radar did not receive any signal from the aircraft, indicating the transponder was off. At 21:23:57, the crew informed the ATC they were on the downwind side, and requested other aircraft to clear off the airspace for Flight 3456's landing. At 21:24:40, the crew declared an emergency and requested to clear the approach again. At the time, the main warning, hydraulic system warning and the gear warning were all triggered in the cockpit. At 21:24:58, the crew asked for a full emergency airfield support. The aircraft then turned around, reporting it would land toward the south, which was approved. At 21:28:30, the aircraft skidded off the runway, broke into three pieces and caught on fire, killing 33 passengers and 2 crew members.[1][7]
Crash site
The first landing attempt was toward north. Debris from the nose gear was found scattered near the southern end of the runway, indicating the left front tyre had exploded during the first touch down. Fallouts including rivets, metal sheets, rubber tube and retaining clip could also be found on the runway surface.
The second landing attempt was toward south. A clear surface scratch from the fuselage was found 427 metres (1,401 ft) from the runway threshold. The aircraft disintegrated after rolling approximately 600 metres (2,000 ft) across the runway and burst into flames. The central part of the fuselage and the trailing edge of the right wing received the most severe burning damage. The front section of the fuselage was 12 metres (39 ft) long with nose pointing north, partially damaged, showing rolling and rotating trace but no signs of burning. A large amount of mire was filled in the deformed cockpit. The rear section was relatively intact, and was the only section not destroyed.[1]: 5.2 The left main gear and the right engine were scattered on the left side of the runway.[1]: 2
Victims
On 9 May 1997, News at 6:30, a national news show aired at TVB Jade, provided a casualty list for the accident.[8]
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Fatalities | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 42 | 9 | 19 (Including 2 crew) | 51 |
| Thailand | 21 | 0 | 16 | 21 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 65 | 9 | 35 | 74 |
Cockpit voice recording
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 CVR - China Southern 3456 on YouTube |
In June 2007, an audio recording reputed to be the last 12 minutes 27 seconds recorded by the cockpit voice recorder of Flight 3456 was leaked on the Internet. According to an expert from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the recording is unlikely to be fake.[9]
| Partial cockpit communications (translated from Chinese) | |
|---|---|
(Auto pilot disengaged)
(GPWS warning: GLIDE SLOPE!)
(1st and 2nd ground contacts)
(3rd ground contact)
(EFIS hydraulic system alarm)
(GPWS warning: WIND SHEAR!)
(Landing gear warning)
(The CVR got several seconds of damaged recording)
(Flaps warning)
(GPWS warning: SINK RATE! PULL UP!)
(Sound of impact) (End of recording after 15 seconds) | |
See also
China portal
Aviation portal
1990s portal
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- Garuda Indonesia Flight 200
- Delta Airlines Flight 191
- Flydubai Flight 981
- Aeroflot Flight 1492, an accident in which the airplane also bounced off twice upon landing
- Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "China Southern May 8th aircraft accident official report" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2016-05-30.
- ^ "China Southern Flight 3456 tracking". Flightaware. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
- ^ "Flight 3456 info on airdisaster.com". airdisaster.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 11 Jun 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "B-2925 China Southern Airlines Boeing 737-300". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "China Southern Airlines B-2925 (Boeing 737 - MSN 27288)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ 南航空難黑盒錄音11年後重現 [South Air's hard black box recording reappears after 11 years] (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Sina. 2008-03-07. Archived from the original on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-31B B-2925 Shenzhen Airport (SZX)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ^ 無線1997年5月9日深圳黃田機場空難35死 [Wireless, May 9, 1997, Shenzhen Huangtian Airport crashed 35 dead]. YouTube (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ "CAAC: It doesn't seem false". Archived from the original on March 11, 2008.
External links
- Accident photo[usurped] (Archive[usurped])
- v
- t
- e
Aviation accidents and incidents in China
- 1922 Beijing-Han Airlines crash (March 1922)
- 1931 Jinan air crash (November 1931)
- Kweilin Incident (August 1938)
- Chungking Incident (October 1940)
- 1945 Peip'ing C-46 crash (October 1945)
- 1946 United States Air Force C-47 Crash at Yan'an (April 1946)
- Miss Macao (July 1948)
- Cathay Pacific Douglas DC-4 shootdown (July 1954)
- Lin Biao incident (September 1971)
- CAAC Flight 3303 (April 1982)
- CAAC Flight 2311 (December 1982)
- CAAC Flight 296 (May 1983)
- Guilin Airport collision (September 1983)
- Aeroflot Flight 101/435 (December 1985)
- China Airlines Flight 334 (May 1986)
- China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146 (January 1988)
- China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 (August 1989)
- Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions (October 1990)
- China General Aviation Flight 7552 (July 1992)
- China Southern Airlines Flight 3943 (November 1992)
- China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 (July 1993)
- China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 (October 1993)
- China Northern Airlines Flight 6901 (November 1993)
- China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 (June 1994)
- China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 (May 1997)
- China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 (February 1999)
- Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316 (April 1999)
- Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 (June 2000)
- Hainan Island incident (April 2001)
- China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 (May 2002)
- China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 (November 2004)
- PLAAF KJ-200 crash (June 2006)
- Avient Aviation Flight 324 (November 2009)
- Henan Airlines Flight 8387 (August 2010)
- Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554 (June 2012)
- Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 (May 2018)
- China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 (March 2022)
- Tibet Airlines Flight 9833 (May 2022)
Accidents and incidents in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are not included.
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