1983 Chosonminhang Ilyushin Il-62 crash

The 1983 Chosonminhang Il-62 crash occurred on 1 July 1983 when an Ilyushin Il-62M being operated by the flag carrier airline of North Korea, Chosonminhang, crashed into mountainous terrain in the West African country of Guinea. All 23 people aboard were killed. The aircraft was flying from Pyongyang with construction cargo and numerous workers ahead of the 1984 Organization of African Unity summit due to take place the following year. It remains the deadliest aviation crash in Guinean history, and was the tenth operational loss of an Il-62 since its introduction.[1]

1983 Chosonminhang Il-62 crash
An Il-62M similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident
Date1 July 1983 (1983-07-01)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
SiteNear Labé, Guinea
Aircraft
Aircraft typeIlyushin Il-62M
OperatorChosonminhang
RegistrationP-889
Flight originPyongyang Sunan International Airport, Pyongyang, North Korea
1st stopoverKabul International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan
Last stopoverCairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
DestinationConakry International Airport, Conakry, Guinea
Passengers17
Crew6
Fatalities23
Survivors0

Aircraft and flight

P-889 was a Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62M manufactured by the Kazan Aviation Plant in early 1981. It was sold to North Korea's national airline, Chosonminhang (now called Air Koryo), the same year. With the exception of an aborted takeoff in 1982 due to an inadvertently opened cargo hatch, the aircraft had no incident history.[2]

On 1 July 1983, P-889 was carrying construction material, as well as several construction workers and technicians, from Pyongyang, North Korea to complete work on a hall ahead of the twentieth Organization of African Unity summit scheduled to take place in Conakry, Guinea, in May 1984.[3][4] P-889 made two intermediate stops on the way to Guinea, stopping in Kabul and Cairo to refuel.

Accident and aftermath

On 1 July 1983, P-889 crashed in the Guinean highland region of Fouta Djallon, near the town of Labé, 160 miles northwest of Conakry International Airport. All 23 aboard were killed. It was the airline's first fatal accident. News of the crash was slow to spread due to difficulties in reaching the remote crash site.[5] Although the cause of the crash was never publicly released, pilot error compounded by fatigue is suspected.[6]

A high-level delegation of Guinean government officials traveled to North Korea shortly after the crash to deliver official condolences to Kim Il Sung.[7]

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See also

References
  1. Ranter, Harro (1983-07-01). "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 62M P-889 Labé". Aviation Safety Network >. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  2. "Ильюшин Ил-62М Бортовой №: 889". russianplanes.net (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  3. 1984 Britannica Book of the Year. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  4. Mohamed Saliou Camara (2005). His Master's Voice: Mass Communication and Single-party Politics in Guinea Under Sékou Touré. Africa World Press. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-59221-306-1.
  5. UPI (1983-07-06). "AROUND THE WORLD; 23 Killed in Guinea Crash Of a North Korean Plane". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  6. Kennedy, Charles (2016-06-16). "Air Koryo North Korea's Connection to the World". Airways Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  7. "Memories of an African Student Forced to Study in North Korea During the 1980s". 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
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