Iberia Airlines Flight 610

Iberia flight 610 was a scheduled flight of Iberia from Madrid- Barajas to Bilbao, which crashed on 19 February 1985 at Monte Oiz on approach to Bilbao. In this case, all 141 passengers and seven crew members were killed.

The accident

The plane took off at 07:47 UTC clock from Madrid- Barajas Airport. 08:16 clock the crew contacted the first time the Tower of Bilbao and got the hint information. The plan was an ILS / DME approach to runway 30, the aircraft was released to fly directly to the VOR of Bilbao, there to begin the approach. 08:22 clock confirmed the air traffic controller overflight of the beacon, the last contact with IB610. 08:27 clock the Boeing 727 collided with radio masts on the northeast flank of the 1,027 meter high Monte Oiz and crashed after losing the left wing past.

Crew

The Boeing 727 was flown with a three -man crew, located next to the captain and the copilot on this aircraft, a flight engineer on board, monitors, among other things, the engine parameters and controls the fuel consumption. The licenses and airworthiness certificates of the three-member cockpit crew and the cabin crew were valid.

Captain

The captain was on the accident 51 years old and since 1966 owned by a transport pilot license ( ATPL ). Since 1976 he had completed the type rating for the Boeing 727 and 13,687 flight hours, including 211 as a co-pilot and 4671 as captain on the 727 The captain took part in mid-July 1984, a strike by Iberia pilots and was therefore dismissed on July 18, 1984. In November 1984, he was reinstated and successfully completed the standardization flights of the airline.

Copilot

The co-pilot, with an age of 38 years, had his ATPL flown 5548 hours so far since 1980. He was, of which 2045 hours were completed as co-pilot on the Boeing 727.

Flight Engineer

The flight engineer was also 38 years old, used since 1980 on the Boeing 727 and had 2,721 flight hours on this pattern.

Aircraft

The flight was conducted with the Boeing 727-256 Alhambra of Granada, which was registered as EC- DDU in the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority. The built in 1979 by Boeing aircraft had the serial number 21777 and was up to the time of the accident, 13,400 hours in the air have been. Three engines of the model Pratt & Whitney JT8D -9A driven to the aircraft at its maximum takeoff weight of 83,552 kg. The aircraft had been inspected the last time by an examiner on May 13, 1984, roadworthy.

Day of the accident, the EC- DDU started with a weight of 66,189 kg, the focus was within the permissible limits.

Causes

The main cause of the accident is that the occupation itself was not aware of their position and imagined in the approach, which led to a drop below the minimum sector altitude. Based on the Bilbao VOR / DME could be found where the aircraft is straight and that you can not already with the final descent would be allowed to start. Contributed to the accident also that the Department has misinterpreted the audible warnings which can be heard in the Boeing 727, when

• The target height (in this case 4,300 feet) still 900 feet away and
• When a deficit of more than 300 feet ( 4,000 feet ) is flown.

The crew, however, had already taken a height of 5,000 feet, so the warning was not issued 900 feet before reaching the target altitude. In the further descent was heard only at 4,000 feet, the warning that the target level was exceeded by more than 300 feet. Even so, Iberia had 610 well below the minimum sector altitude of 4,354 feet. The crew sat still continue the final approach, the descent, which led to one of the antennas on the Monte Oiz upon reaching 3,356 feet in the collision.