Description

On 15 April 2002, a Boeing 767-200ER (B2552) being operated by Air China on a scheduled international passenger flight from Beijing to Busan as CCA 129 with an augmented crew and making a circling approach to runway 18R at its destination in day IMC failed to complete the turn onto final approach. It was subsequently found to have impacted terrain 2.5nm to the north of the landing runway and been completely destroyed by the impact and post crash fire. 129 of the 166 occupants were killed and the 37 who survived were all seriously injured. Busan Airport was the civil transport element of Gimhae Air Force Base and ATS was a military responsibility.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Korean Aviation Accident Investigation Board. The SSFDR and the CVR were recovered and their data successfully downloaded and cross-referenced. Some useful data were also recovered from component Non Volatile Memory media, although in some cases, potentially useful data had been lost due to fire damage to host components. Hard evidence collected and reviewed during the initial stages of the Investigation was sufficient to be able to eliminate both airworthiness and aircraft loading as factors leading to the accident. In particular, data in the NVM of the two Engine Electronic Controllers (EECs) confirmed that the engines had operated normally.