Air Philippines Flight 541

Air Philippines Flight 541 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by Air Philippines from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila to Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City. On April 19, 2000, the Boeing 737-2H4 crashed in Samal, Davao del Norte while on approach to the airport, killing all 124 passengers and 7 crew members. It remains the deadliest air disaster in the Philippines and the third deadliest accident involving the Boeing 737-200, after Mandala Airlines Flight 091, which crashed 5 years later, and Indian Airlines Flight 113.[1]

Air Philippines Flight 541
An Air Philippines Boeing 737-200, similar to the crashed aircraft
Accident
DateApril 19, 2000 (2000-04-19)
SummaryPilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain
SiteSamal, Davao del Norte
07°09′24″N 125°42′03″E
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-2H4
OperatorAir Philippines
RegistrationRP-C3010
Flight originNinoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines
DestinationFrancisco Bangoy International Airport, Davao City, Philippines
Occupants131
Passengers124
Crew7
Fatalities131
Survivors0

Aircraft

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-2H4, registration RP-C3010 and previously owned by Southwest Airlines as N50SW, was first delivered in February 1978 and was sold to Air Philippines 20 years later.

Accident

On April 19, 2000, Flight 541, with 131 passengers and crew, left Manila at about 5:30 AM, bound for Davao City. At Around 7 AM the Boeing was approaching runway 05 following an Airbus 319. When Flight 541 broke free from the clouds the crew observed that the A319 had not yet cleared the runway at which time they advised ATC a missed approach procedure would be performed. Flight 541 began to climb and re-entered the clouds. The correct procedure would have been to climb to 4,000 feet on instruments and circle around to pick up the guide slope. Instead the crew attempted to fly VFR in instrument conditions at a lower altitude. Flight 541 contacted a coconut tree about 500 feet above sea level, and crashed a few miles west of the airport.[2] The plane subsequently caught fire and disintegrated; there were no survivors.[3]

Aftermath

Villagers on the island said the plane was flying at low altitude and hit the top of a coconut tree, which knocked off part of its wing. They said it appeared the plane tried to pull up under full engine power, but failed and crashed. The plane disintegrated and caught fire when it came down in a coconut grove. Airport officials said skies were foggy at the time of the accident.[4]

Davao International Airport did not have full equipment for instrument landings at that time, and visual landings had been suspended several minutes before the crash.

References
  1. "Air Philippines crash kills all 131 on board" (Archive). CNN. April 19, 2000. Retrieved on August 30, 2014.
  2. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-2H4 RP-C3010 Davao". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  3. "131 killed in Philippines' worst air crash". theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media Limited. April 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  4. "Aftermath of Flight 541".
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