CAAC Flight 3303 was a scheduled domestic

passenger flight An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

from the former Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to

Guilin Qifengling Airport Guilin Qifengling Airport is a military airport in Guilin, Guangxi, China. Built in 1958, the airport originally served all commercial traffic to Guilin. It was poorly equipped to handle the rapid increase in tourism to the city during the 199 ...

, China. It was serviced by a

Hawker Siddeley Trident The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...

, registration B-266, that crashed into a mountain on 26 April 1982, killing all 112 people aboard.

Aircraft and crew

The crashed aircraft was a

2E that first flew in 1975. The aircraft was owned by the Air Force but was operated by

CAAC Airlines CAAC (), formerly the People's Aviation Company of China (), was the airline division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the monopoly civil airline in the People's Republic of China. It was founded on 17 July 1952, and merged int ...

, Guangzhou division (now

China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines (branded as China Southern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Eastern Airlines. Established on 1 ...

). The

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Chen Huaiyao, was an experienced

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

Trident pilot who had joined the

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

General Administration of Civil Aviation of China in 1982. It was his first flight to

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

. Co-pilot Chen Zaiwen, 31, had served in the

Chinese Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four services— Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force—and four arms— Aerospac ...

and

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Accident

At 16:45, as Flight 3303 was on approach to the airport in heavy rain, the crew wanted a north-to-south approach. The airport had no

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

; the

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

proceeded to misjudge the distance of the aircraft from the airport, and directed the flight to descend prematurely. The plane flew into a mountain near the town of Yangshuo, exploding and breaking up on impact. The accident killed all 112 people on board. After the accident, Yangshuo County ordered 67 militiamen to protect the crash site. A

Hong Kong Observatory The Hong Kong Observatory is a weather forecast agency of the government of Hong Kong. The Observatory forecasts the weather and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also monitors and makes assessments on radiation levels in Hong ...

spokesman said at the time that the Guangzhou-Guilin area had been affected by severe weather since 25 April.

Victims

The Chinese government sent nearly 1,000 troops of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

to the crash site to search for survivors. The operation ended after more than a week. There were 52 people from Hong Kong on board, 37 of whom were part of a tour group. The dead included American entomologist

Judson Linsley Gressitt Judson Linsley Gressitt (16 June 1914 – 26 April 1982) was an American entomologist and naturalist who worked in Japan and China. He worked mainly on beetle diversity in Southeast Asia and in applied areas, particularly medical entomology, and w ...

and his wife as well as Hong Kong TVB artist , his wife and father-in-law's family. An unconfirmed report stated that several Japanese passengers were on board. Due to the explosion on impact, many bodies were highly fragmented.

Investigation

The

Civil Aviation Administration of China The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and inv ...

and the Guangdong Provincial Government investigated the accident. The likely reason for the crash was poor crew resource management, as well as inadequate and erroneous communication from air traffic control. The captain had no experience in flying the Guilin route, and the area is noted for limestone cliffs that make landing hazardous. Autopilot error was another likely reason for the accident as the CAAC noted that the aircraft began to bank. The flight crew only realized these issues when the aircraft was banked 45 degrees. However, they mistook the data and continued to turn the yoke. The aircraft entered a bank of 180 degrees and crashed into the mountain.

Aftermath

After the air crash, more than 40 victims were buried in a tomb located in section 022 of the

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

Dapeng Bay Overseas Chinese Cemetery. The headstones have photos of the victims and their nationality. The words "April 26 Air Crash Cemetery" are written on it. The tombstone was provided free of charge by a Hong Kong investor in the cemetery named Mr. Liang. He also helped the families of the victims to pay nearly one million yuan in transportation and meals.

References

External links

Aviation-safety.net

(in Chinese)

UPI archives
{{CAAC Airlines 1982 disasters in China Aviation accidents and incidents in 1982 Aviation accidents and incidents in China CAAC accidents and incidents Accidents and incidents involving the Hawker Siddeley Trident Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain History of Guilin April 1982 in China Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure 1982 in China