Boeing 747SP - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• On February 19, 1985, China Airlines Flight 006, a 747SP-09 (aircraft registration N4522V) with 274 passengers and crew onboard on a flight from Chiang Kai-shek Airport to Los Angeles International Airport suffered an inflight failure on engine number four. While the flight crew attempted to restore power the aircraft rolled to the right and started a steep descent from the cruising altitude of 41,000 feet, accelerating to 4.8 G and 5.1 G on two occasions. The captain managed to stabilize the aircraft at 9,500 feet and the aircraft diverted to San Francisco International Airport which was 550 km (343.8 mi.) away. Two passengers were injured and the aircraft suffered major structural damage.
• On October 5, 1998 a South African Airways Boeing 747SP-44 (ZS-SPF) operated by LAM Mozambique Airlines suffered an engine failure shortly after take-off from Maputo International Airport, Mozambique. The no. 3 engine suffered an uncontained failure – flying debris caused damage to the no. 4 engine and the wing. A fire broke out that couldn’t be extinguished immediately, forcing an emergency landing. All 66 people on board survived. The extensive damage was determined to be economically unviable to repair and the aircraft was scrapped.