Passenger aircraft crash near Labé, Guinea
1983 Korean Airways Il-62 crash P-889, the aircraft involved in the accident |
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| Date | 1 July 1983 (1983-07-01) |
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| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
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| Site | Near Labé, Guinea |
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| Aircraft type | Ilyushin Il-62M |
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| Operator | Korean Airways (Chosonminhang) |
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| Registration | P-889 |
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| Flight origin | Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, Pyongyang, North Korea |
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| 1st stopover | Kabul International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan |
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| Last stopover | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
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| Destination | Conakry International Airport, Conakry, Guinea |
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| Occupants | 23 |
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| Passengers | 17 |
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| Crew | 6 |
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| Fatalities | 23 |
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| Survivors | 0 |
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The 1983 Korean Airways Il-62 crash occurred on 1 July 1983 when an Ilyushin Il-62M being operated by the flag carrier airline of North Korea, Korean Airways (Chosonminhang), crashed into mountainous terrain in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. All 23 people (17 passengers and 6 crew) aboard were killed. The aircraft was flying from Pyongyang with construction cargo and workers ahead of the 1984 Organization of African Unity summit due to take place the following year. It remains the deadliest aviation crash in Guinean history, and was the tenth operational loss of an Il-62 since its introduction.[1]
Aircraft and flight
P-889 was a Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62M manufactured by the Kazan Aviation Plant in early 1981. It was sold to North Korea's national airline, Korean Airways (now called Air Koryo), the same year. With the exception of an aborted takeoff in 1982 due to an inadvertently opened cargo hatch, the aircraft had no incident history.[2]
On 1 July 1983, P-889 was carrying construction material, as well as several construction workers and technicians, from Pyongyang, North Korea to complete work on a hall ahead of the twentieth Organization of African Unity summit scheduled to take place in Conakry, Guinea, in May 1984.[3][4] P-889 made two intermediate stops on the way to Guinea, stopping in Kabul and Cairo to refuel.
Accident and aftermath
On 1 July 1983, P-889 crashed in the Guinean highland region of Fouta Djallon, near the town of Labé, 160 miles northwest of Conakry International Airport. All 23 aboard were killed. It was the airline's first fatal accident. News of the crash was slow to spread due to difficulties in reaching the remote crash site.[5] Although the cause of the crash was never publicly released, pilot error compounded by fatigue is suspected.[6]
A high-level delegation of Guinean government officials traveled to North Korea shortly after the crash to deliver official condolences to Kim Il Sung.[7]
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