Lufthansa Flight 540
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 20, 1974 |
| Type | Mechanical failure, pilot error |
| Site | Nairobi, Kenya |
| Fatalities | 59 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 747-130 |
| Operator | Lufthansa |
| Tail number | D-ABYB |
| Passengers | 140 |
| Crew | 17 |
| Survivors | 98 |
Lufthansa Flight 540, registered as D-ABYB, was a commercial Lufthansa Boeing 747-130, carrying 157 people (140 passengers and 17 crew members), operating the final segment of its FrankfurtβNairobiβJohannesburg route. On November 20, 1974 it crashed and caught fire shortly past the runway on take-off. This was the first ever crash involving a Boeing 747.
As the plane was departing Runway 24 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the pilots felt a buffeting vibration. The captain continued the ascent and retracted the landing gear. However, as this was being done, the plane started to descend and the stall warning system light came on. The plane continued to descend and approximately 3,700 feet from the end of the runway, the plane grazed bushes and grass. It then struck an elevated access road and broke up. The plane caught fire due to an explosion in the left wing and spreading to the fuselage. Of the 157 people aboard, 59 perished (55 passengers and 4 crew members).
The probable cause of the crash is a combination of a mechanical failure, due to a faulty pneumatic system causing an inproper flap configuration on take-off, and the flight crew not performing a satisfactory pre-take-off checklist.
