Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316

Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316 (KE6316/KAL6316) was a scheduled Korean Air Cargo freight flight from Shanghai to Seoul. On 15 April 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F operating the route, registered as HL7373, crashed in Xinzhuang, Shanghai shortly after taking off from Hongqiao Airport, killing all 3 crew on board, along with 5 on the ground.

Accident

Loaded with 86 tons of cargo, the MD-11F operating Flight 6316 took off from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at around 4:00 pm. The flight crew consisted of Captain Hong Sung-sil () (54), First Officer Park Bon-suk () (35), and flight engineer Park Byong-ki () (48),. After taking off, the MD-11F received clearance to climb to after the first officer contacted Shanghai Departure.

As the aircraft climbed to , the first officer told the captain that the required altitude should be , thinking that the aircraft was too high. Therefore, the captain pushed the control column abruptly forward, causing the aircraft to descend at over . At 4:04 pm, the aircraft became uncontrollable due to the steep dive and eventually crashed into an industrial zone in Xinzhuang, which is southwest of Hongqiao Airport. The aircraft impacted the ground and exploded. Along with the 3 South Korean crew on board, 2 pupils and 3 migrant workers on the ground also perished. The crash was recorded by the nearby Shanghai Earthquake Administration which indicated that the impact forces had generated an equivalent of a 1.6 magnitude earthquake.

Aircraft

The aircraft operated Flight 6316 was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter with the registration HL7373 and S/N 48409, powered by three Pratt & Whitney PW4460 engines. Built-in February 1992, this aircraft was delivered to Korean Air on March 24, 1992. In 1996, the aircraft was converted to a freighter.

Investigation

On April 27, 1999, the primary investigation revealed no evidence of an explosion or mechanical failure before the impact. In June 2001, further investigation carried out by CAAC showed that the first officer had confused , the required altitude, with , causing the pilot to make the wrong decision to descend.

In almost all countries, aviation altitudes are measured in feet in compliance with the ICAO convention.
Only China, Russia, North Korea, and some nearby countries use metres.

See also

*Korean Air incidents and accidents
* National Airlines Flight 102 – also crashed shortly after takeoff.
*Avient Aviation Flight 324 – another air disaster occurred in Shanghai, also involving an MD-11F.The aircraft involved in this accident was initially delivered to Korean Air as HL7372, the sistership of HL7373. It crashed on November 28, 2009.
* Air China Flight 129 – occurred in Busan three years after the Shanghai crash.The flight was from Beijing, China to Busan, Korea, flown by a Boeing 767-200ER registered B-2552 on April 15, 2002. 129 people were killed in that crash.
*Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 – another Korean Air Cargo plane that crashed shortly after takeoff from London Stansted Airport eight months after the Shanghai crash.
* Air Canada Flight 143 – another aviation incident caused by the confusion between Metric and Imperial measurements

Footnotes

References

External links

PlaneCrashInfo.Com – Entry on KE6316
* ()
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Loss: Korean Air Boeing MD-11F – HL-7373

ArchiveAlternate archive
. ''Flight International''. 15 April 1999.

{{Korean Air

Accidents and incidents involving cargo aircraft
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999
Aviation accidents and incidents in China
1999 disasters in China
6316
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-11
1990s in Shanghai
April 1999 events in Asia