A Martinair Douglas DC-8 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date
4 December 1974 (1974-12-04)
Summary
Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site
Maskeliya, Sri Lanka 6°53′32″N80°29′26″E / 6.89222°N 80.49056°E / 6.89222; 80.49056
Aircraft
Aircraft type
McDonnell Douglas DC-8-55CF[1]
Operator
Martinair on behalf of Garuda Indonesian Airways
Registration
PH-MBH
Flight origin
Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
Stopover
Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Destination
Jeddah International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Occupants
191
Passengers
182
Crew
9
Fatalities
191
Survivors
0
Martinair Flight 138 was a chartered flight from Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, to Colombo, Sri Lanka. The aircraft was operated by the Dutch airline Martinair on behalf of Garuda Indonesian Airways. On 4 December 1974, the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-55CF,[1] crashed into a mountain shortly before landing, killing all 191 people aboard – 182 Indonesian hajj pilgrims bound for Mecca, and nine crew members.[2][3] The crash remains the deadliest in Sri Lankan aviation history and the third-deadliest involving a DC-8, after Arrow Air Flight 1285R and Nigeria Airways Flight 2120.[4] At the time of the crash, it was the second-deadliest aviation accident in history, after the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 which occurred earlier that same year.[5]
Flight 138 departed Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at approximately 12.03 UTC, with a stopover at Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo. At around 16.30 UTC air traffic control in Colombo cleared the flight. At 16.38 UTC another air traffic controller is said to have intervened, cleared the flight down to 5,000 ft (1,500 m) and reported clearing to 8,000 ft (2,400 m). Colombo approach then cleared the flight down to 2,000 ft (610 m) at 16.44 and told the flight to expect a runway 04 approach. The crew aboard Flight 138 were then asked to report when the airport was in sight. The crew then continued their descent until the aircraft crashed into Saptha Kanya Mountain range at an altitude of approximately 4,355 ft (1,327 m) and at around 40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) east of Colombo.
^ abFrancillon, René J. (1988). McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 ([Rev. ed.]. ed.). Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. p. 592. ISBN 0870214284.
^"1970". martinair.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
^"Martinair Holland Flight 138 Hits Mountain Descending into Rising Terrain". timelines.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
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