Olympic Airways Flight 411

Olympic Airways Flight 411, from Ellinikon International Airport bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport operated using a Boeing 747-200 on August 9, 1978 came close to crashing in downtown Athens following an engine explosion while taking off. Despite maneuvers near the edge of the flight envelope, none of the 418 passengers or crew suffered serious injury.

Olympic Airways Flight 411
The airplane involved in the incident, seen in TWA colours in 1986.
Accident
DateAugust 9, 1978 (1978-08-09)
SummaryEngine explosion at takeoff, resulting in loss of thrust
SiteAthens, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-284B
Aircraft nameOlympic Zeus
OperatorOlympic Airways
RegistrationSX-OAA
Flight originEllinikon International Airport
DestinationJohn F. Kennedy International Airport
Fatalities0
Survivors418

Flight details

Background

The Boeing 747 was the first "jumbo jet". It was a prestige aircraft in the 1970's and purchased by many airlines as a fleet flagship.[1] Olympic Airways was the flag carrier for Greece and had purchased 747's for some of its prime routes, including a non-stop between Athens and New York.[2] It received its first 747, registered as SX-OAA in June, 1973.[3] The large passenger capacity meant lower per-seat costs to the airlines that operated it.[1] For Olympic, this meant that large numbers of American tourists could be accommodated.[2] Ellinikon in the Athens suburb of Elliniko was the international airport for the capital city and the primary entry and departure point for Americans visiting Greece.

The Captain of the incident flight, Sifis Migadis, had 32 years of experience with Olympic[4] The First Officer Kostas Fikardos was also considered experienced and was a close friend of Migadis.[5]

Accident aircraft
An Olympic Airways 747-200 similar to the one involved in the incident showing the aircraft livery in use at the time.

SX-OAA, named "Olympic Zeus" was the first -200 series 747 that Olympic purchased and fitted in a two-class configuration with executive class seating on the upper deck and nose section of the lower deck and economy class for the remainder of the lower deck.[6]

Flight summary

Just before takeoff, the crew heard an explosion.[2] Engine #3 had exploded and the flight was at a point where immediately aborting the takeoff was extremely difficult.[7] the plane climbed sluggishly to an altitude of just 209 metres (686 ft) as it approached the 200 metres (660 ft) tall Pani hill in Alimos.[2] As it passed over Kallithea, Nea Smyrni and Syggrou the altitude decreased to only 50 metres (160 ft).[5] People watching from the ground saw the huge belly of the plane passing over.[4] The larger obstacle of Mount Aigaleo at 469 metres (1,539 ft) was of great concern because the low airspeed of 257.5 kilometres per hour (160.0 mph) and minimal altitude did not leave the flight crew enough room to execute a normal banked turn.[5] The plane was flying at a speed slightly higher than that of the limit for a stall which made a simple climb impossible. At 2:05 p.m, a light breeze gave the plane some height, which made it possible for Migadis to make a gradual turn to avoid crashing into the slopes.[8] The aircraft returned to Ellinikon International Airport safely.

Investigation

The plane's water injection system had been left on prior to take-off, and the flight engineer failed to notice this during pre-flight checks, flipping the switch to the 'off' position.[8] Without water injection to cool off the engines, engine number three exploded.

See also

References
  1. Tegler, Eric (6 July 2020). "Why the 747 Is Such a Badass Plane". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. "Σίφης Μιγάδης: Ο πιλότος που πέταξε με κατεστραμμένο κινητήρα πάνω από την Αθήνα" [Sifis Migadis: The pilot who flew over Athens with a damaged engine]. In.gr (in Greek). 21 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. "Airliners PAST:Olympic Airways receives it's [sic] First * Boeing 747 SX-OAA". YouTube. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  4. Andreadis, Panagiotis (8 October 2018). "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ένας πιλότος θρύλος της Ολυμπιακής που κατάφερε να σώσει … ένα "χαμένο" αεροπλάνο" [Sifis Migadis: A pilot legend of Olympiaki who managed to save… a "lost" plane]. People News (in Greek). Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  5. "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ο ήρωας πιλότος της ολυμπιακής που έσωσε εκατοντάδες ανθρώπους από βέβαιο θάνατο!" [Sifis Migadis: The hero pilot of the Olympics who saved hundreds of people from certain death!]. Athens Magazine (in Greek). 15 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. Stretton, Richard. "Olympic Zeus: Greek 747s". Yesterday's Airlines. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. "Σήφης Μιγάδης: Ο πιλότος-θρύλος της Ολυμπιακής που έσωσε 418 επιβάτες από βέβαιο θανατο (βίντεο)" [Sifis Migadis: The legendary pilot of Olympiaki who saved 418 passengers from certain death (video)]. Globe news (in Greek). 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  8. "Πτήση 411". Πρώτο Πλάνο (in Greek). ANT1.

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