Korean Air Flight 801

Wreckage of KAL 801 burns at the Sasa Valley crash site.

Korean Air Flight 801 (KE801, KAL801) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Korean Air. The flight crashed on August 6, 1997, on approach to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, in the United States territory of Guam, killing 229 of the 254 people aboard. The aircraft crashed on Nimitz Hill in Asan-Maina, Guam, while on approach to the airport. The National Transportation Safety Board cites poor communication between the flight crew as probable cause for the air crash, along with the captain's poor decision-making on the non-precision approach.

Quotes

• Burned and scratched, some of the more fortunate survivors told of being hurled from the plane still attached to their seats, and of turning back in their escape from the burning jet to pull fellow passengers to safety.
  • "Survivors tell of fiery last moments of Flight 801" in Associated Press (7 August 1997)

• After the accident, Korean Air announced that it planned to spend more than $100 million over the next two years on safety initiatives, including changes in pilot training and maintenance operations.
  • "Flight 801 crashed 20 years ago today" in The Guam Daily Post (6 August 2017)

• The wait for remains has been excruciating for the families of the victims, most of them South Korean. A scuffle broke out Thursday at a hotel used as a center for the families when mourners hungry for information saw a Korean Air representative hold a news conference for reporters instead of briefing the families.
  • "Grim Work at Guam Crash Site" in The Washington Post (17 August 1997)

• Witnesses said the plane plowed through the jungle trailing smoke and flames, before it came to rest. The first rescuers had to make a maddeningly slow journey to the wreckage, trudging in with flashlights after hacking their way through razor-sharp grass that came up to their shoulders. They were followed by a bulldozer that slowly leveled a path over the rocky ground, the witnesses said.
  • "South Korean Plane Crashes On Guam With 254 on Board" in The New York Times (6 August 1997)

• Transcripts of cockpit voice recordings recovered from the wreckage show confusion in the cockpit, with crew members questioning one another repeatedly about the state of the instrument landing system and failing to follow procedures that would have kept them all aware of how close they were getting to the ground.
  • "Korean Air Admits Crew Made Mistakes in Guam Crash" in Los Angeles Times (26 March 1998)

• The cause of the crash was attributed to failure to adequately brief and execute a non-precision approach, and the Federal Aviation Administration's intentional inhibition of the minimum safe altitude warning system at Guam, the report showed.
  • "20 years later: remembering Korean Air Flight 801" in USA Today (5 August 2017)