Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 that crashed outside Paris on March 3, 1974, killing all 346 people on board, the highest-ever death-count of any single plane crash with no survivors. The accident is also known as the "Ermenonville air disaster", from the forest near Senlis, Oise, where the aircraft crashed.
The crash resulted from the rear cargo hatch blowing-off, causing decompression and severing cables that left the pilots with almost no control. The hatches used manual procedures to ensure they were locked correctly. Problems with the hatches had previously occurred. Investigation showed that these procedures were open to abuse, by forcing the handle shut without the pins being in place. It was noted that the pins had been filed down, making it easier to close the door, but leaving it less resistant to pressure. Also a support-plate for the handle-linkage had not been installed, although this work had been signed-off. Finally the latching had been performed by a Moroccan baggage-handler who could not read the relevant notices, in Turkish or English. After the disaster, the latches were re-designed and the locking system significantly upgraded.
Read more about Turkish Airlines Flight 981: Aircraft, Accident, Passengers, Investigation, Cause, Aftermath, Dramatization, Similar Accidents
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