Saudia - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• On 25 September 1959, a Saudia Douglas DC-4 HZ-AAF crashed shortly after take-off from Jeddah. The cause of the accident was pilot error followed by a stall. All 67 passengers and 5 crew survived.

• On 9 February 1968, Douglas C-47 HZ-AAE was damaged beyond economic repair at an unknown location.

• On 10 November 1970, a Douglas DC-3 on a flight from Amman Civil Airport, Jordan to King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was hijacked and diverted to Damascus Airport, Syria.

• On 11 July 1972, Douglas C-47B HZ-AAK was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Tabuk Airport.

• On 19 August 1980, Saudia Flight 163 a Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, operating Karachi-Riyadh-Jeddah, was completely destroyed by fire at Riyadh airport with the loss of all 301 people on board.

• On 23 December 1980, Saudia Flight 162 a Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, operating Dhahran to Karachi, experienced an explosive decompression, penetrating the passenger cabin. The hole sucked out two passengers and depressurized the cabin.

• On 12 November 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763 (SVA 763), a Boeing 747-168B en route from New Delhi, India, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, collided in mid-air with Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 (KZA 1907), an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Shymkent, Kazakhstan to New Delhi, over the village of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India. All 349 people on board both flights were killed, making it the deadliest mid-air collision in history.

• In 23 August 2001, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747–300 aircraft (Registration HZ-AIO) suffered nose damage as it entered a monsoon drainage ditch while it was being taxied by Maintenance staff from the hangar to the gate before a return flight to Saudi Arabia. None of the six crew members on board at the time were injured.

• On 8 September 2005, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 traveling from Colombo to Jeddah, carrying mostly Sri Lankan nationals to take up employment in the Kingdom, received a false alarm claiming that a bomb had been planted on board. The aircraft returned to Colombo and, during the evacuation, there was a passenger stampede in the wake of which one Sri Lankan woman died, 62 were injured, and 17 were hospitalized. The aircraft had taken on a load of 420 passengers in Colombo.

• On 25 May 2008, a leased aircraft operating as Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV806 from Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport, Medina made an uneventful landing in Zia International Airport. During the roll the tower controller reported that he saw a fire on the right hand wing. Upon exiting runway 14 the crew received a fire indication for engine number three. The fire extinguisher was activated and all engines were shut down. The Boeing 747-357, which was damaged beyond repair, was successfully evacuated. Only minor injuries had been incurred. Investigation determined a fuel leak where the fuel enters the front spar for engine number three.

• On 21 January 2010, a Saudi Arabian Cargo MD-11F was involved in a taxiway excursion at Malta International Airport. As the aircraft was taxiing to Park 9 via taxiway E, the right main landing gear overstepped the taxiway onto the grass where it became stuck in the soft soil. No injuries were reported and the aircraft was pulled out the following morning.