747 Disasters Quiz / Test | Aviation

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. On December 21 1988 flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie en route from Heathrow London to JFK New York. What was the name of the airline involved?

Answer: Pan Am

Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747-121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas, exploded over Lockerbie with large sections of the aircraft including the wings falling directly on the town, resulting in the death of 11 people on the ground. There were no survivors among the 259 passengers and crew.

2. After taking off from JFK New York July 17 1996, bound for Rome Italy via Paris France. Trans World Airlines flight 800 exploded. What was the primary reason for the explosion?

Answer: Electrical spark in the fuel tanks

A short circuit causing a spark in the fuel tanks brought down flight 800 with the loss of 230 lives, it was concluded by the NTSB 16 months after the accident. However, there are a lot of conspiracy theorists who believe that TWA 800 was either shot down by a missile or brought down by a bomb.

3. August 12 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123, after losing the tail section and the loss of hydraulics, crashed into Mount Takamagahara 505 passengers and 15 crew members died. How many survivors were there?

Answer: 4

Miraculously, four women survived the worse single aircraft disaster in history. Air stewardess Yumi Ochiai, Hiroko Yoshizaki and her 8 year old daughter and another 12 year old girl.

4. Charkhidadri, India was the location on November 12 1996 of the 3rd worst disaster in aviation history. A mid air collision between Saudi 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin 76. Who was blamed for the incident?

Answer: The Captain of the Ilyushin 76

The Saudi 747 had just taken off from New Delhi climbing to 14,000 feet, the Ilyushin was inbound to New Delhi and given the approach height of 15,000 feet. Due to a misunderstanding and their lack of a working knowledge of the English language the pilot of the Ilyushin descended to 14,000 feet.

The two aircraft collided, the tail of Kazakhstani aircraft cut through Saudi airlines 747 left wing and horizontal stabilizer, crippling both aircraft. Initially 4 people were found alive on the Saudi 747 wreckage but they died as a result of their injuries, leaving no survivors.

5. Korean Air Flight 801 whilst on final approach crashed 3 miles short of the runway at Guam, on August 6 1985. Following the investigation who was blamed for the accident?

Answer: The captain

Captain Park Yong-Chul's approach was too low whilst executing a non precision approach, and the plane crashed into a hillside short of the runway. Other factors that contributed included fatigue, outdated maps and poor visibility due to heavy rain.

6. On September 1, 1983 at the height of the Cold War, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was en route from JFK New York to Seoul, South Korea via Anchorage. It was shot down by a fighter jet interceptor. Which country was responsible for this deliberate act?

Answer: USSR

After the flight strayed into Soviet airspace twice three Su-15 fighters were scrambled to intercept the plane. Warning shots were fired close to the aircraft but went unnoticed. The Soviets decided it was a spy plane and launched to air to air missiles and shot it down: all 269 passengers and crew were killed. Pilot error was the reason they were off course entering restricted airspace.

Instead of flying in a designated flight corridor they were flying on a magnetic heading having not selected the correct mode for the auto pilot to follow.

7. It is widely known that the single worse aviation disaster resulting in the loss of 583 lives occurred on the island of Tenerife in March 27 1983 when two 747s collided on the runway. Which two airlines where involved?

Answer: Pan Am and KLM

After a bomb exploded at Las Palmas airport Gran Canarias both flights were diverted to the nearby Los Rodeos Airport Tenerife. ATC were forced to use part of the taxiway for parking the large volume of traffic. Therefore when air traffic control where given the all clear the aircraft had to use the part runway as a taxiway.

In the meantime thick fog enveloped the area bringing visibility to less than 100 metres. The KLM flight had taxied to the end of the runway, completed the 180 degree turn and was waiting for permission to take off. Simultaneously the Pan Am flight was taxiing directly towards the KLM flight one kilometre away.

The Pan Am flight intended to taxi up the runway then maneuver onto a small taxiway to the left which connected the taxiway with the main taxiway. Once he had completed this the KLM would have been given the all clear to take off.

This obviously wasn't the case, the KLMs Captain decided to take off whilst the Pan Am flight was still on the runway and hit them at 160 mph.

8. Holland's worse air disaster occurred October 4 1992. Israeli El Al Flight 1862 crashed into a apartment block in a Amsterdam suburb. The main cause of the crash was metal fatigue causing the loss of engines, but how many engines did the jet airliner lose?

Answer: 2

The loss of the two engines was not the only cause, as the engines falling off the ripped part of the wing of as well. The loss of life was considerably more on the ground (43) compared with 4 onboard as it was a cargo plane.

9. Ten weeks after the Lockerbie disaster United Airlines flight 811 was en route from Honolulu to Auckland New Zealand when it suffered massive decompression resulting in the loss of 9 lives. What caused the decompression?

Answer: Loss of a cargo door

The flight crew at first thought it was a bomb as the Lockerbie disaster was so recent. After flying for only 16 minutes and climbing to a altitude of 22,000 feet the cargo door blew off as a result a few rows of seats were sucked out with the loss of 9 lives.

Investigation concluded the reason was fault with the cargo doors design, after the recommendations from the NTSB Boeing altered the design.

10. How many 747 hull loss accidents (total loss and write offs) were throughout the world up until September 2010?

Answer: 49

The 49 losses of 747s since their conception has resulted in the loss of 2,852 lives, which may sound a lot, but if you take into consideration that is roughly 6 full 747s and the millions of people they have transported throughout the world and the amount of miles they have clocked up it is still one of the most dependable and safest jet airliners in history, and long may it continue to be so.

Source: Author glenjue

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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747 Disasters Trivia Quiz

The Boeing 747 is one of the most successful commercial aircraft in aviation history, transporting millions of people and much freight around the world. However, when disaster strikes the results can be devastating.

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