KLM Flight 867
Encyclopedia
On 15 December 1989, KLM Flight 867 en route to Narita International Airport
, Tokyo from Amsterdam was descending into Anchorage International Airport, Alaska when all four engines failed. The Boeing 747-400
, less than 6 months old, flew through a thick cloud of volcanic ash
from Mount Redoubt
, which had erupted the day before.
When all four main generators shut off due to the failure of all the engines, a momentary power interruption occurs when the flight instruments transfer to standby power. Standby power on the 747-400 is provided by two batteries and inverters. The captain performed the engine restart procedure which was not successful on the first few attempts and was repeated until restart was achieved. On some of the attempts, as one or more (but not all) engines started to operate, the main generator would switch back on. This switching on and off caused repeated power transfer interruptions to the flight instruments. The temporary blanking of the instruments gave the appearance that standby power had failed. These power transfers were later verified from the flight data recorder.
As of 2011, the aircraft is still in service with KLM under the KLM Asia livery.
Flight 867 now operates the Amsterdam-Osaka (Kansai) route.
from London Heathrow
to Auckland
, whilst on the sector from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, Western Australia, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash
from the eruption of Mount Galunggung, causing all four engines to fail due to compressor stall
. The aircraft was diverted to Jakarta
, and was able to glide far enough to exit the ash cloud, restart its engines and land safely.
Narita International Airport
is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama....
, Tokyo from Amsterdam was descending into Anchorage International Airport, Alaska when all four engines failed. The Boeing 747-400
Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a major development and the best-selling model of the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. While retaining the four-engine wide-body layout of its predecessors, the 747-400 embodies numerous technological and structural changes to produce a more efficient airframe...
, less than 6 months old, flew through a thick cloud of volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
from Mount Redoubt
Mount Redoubt (Alaska)
Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Chigmit Mountains , the mountain is just west of Cook Inlet, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough about 180 km southwest of Anchorage...
, which had erupted the day before.
Engine failure
All four engines failed leaving only critical systems on backup electrical power. One report assigns the engine shutdown to the turning of the ash into a glass coating inside the engines that fooled the engine temperature sensors and led to an auto-shutdown of all four engines.When all four main generators shut off due to the failure of all the engines, a momentary power interruption occurs when the flight instruments transfer to standby power. Standby power on the 747-400 is provided by two batteries and inverters. The captain performed the engine restart procedure which was not successful on the first few attempts and was repeated until restart was achieved. On some of the attempts, as one or more (but not all) engines started to operate, the main generator would switch back on. This switching on and off caused repeated power transfer interruptions to the flight instruments. The temporary blanking of the instruments gave the appearance that standby power had failed. These power transfers were later verified from the flight data recorder.
Transcript
The following transmissions took place between Anchorage Center, the air traffic control facility for that region, and KLM 867:- Pilot — ‘‘KLM 867 heavy is reaching levelFlight levelA Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
250 heading 140’’ - Anchorage Center— ‘‘Okay, Do you have good sight on the ash plume at this time?’’
- Pilot — ‘‘Yea, it’s just cloudy it could be ashes. It’s just a little browner than the normal cloud.’’
- Pilot — ‘‘We have to go left now. . . it’s smoky in the cockpit at the moment, sir.’’
- Anchorage Center— ‘‘KLM 867 heavy, roger, left at your discretion.’’
- Pilot — ‘‘Climbing to level 390, we’re in a black cloud, heading 130.’’
- Pilot — ‘‘KLM 867 we have flame out all engines and we are descending now!’’
- Anchorage Center— ‘‘KLM 867 heavy, Anchorage?
- Pilot — ‘‘KLM 867 heavy, we are descending now. . . we are in a fall!’’
- Pilot — ‘‘KLM 867, we need all the assistance you have, sir. Give us radar vectors please!’’
Engine restart
After descending more than 14,000 feet, Captain Karl van der Elst and crew were finally able to restart the engines and safely land the plane. In this case the ash caused more than US$80 million in damage to the aircraft (requiring all four engines to be replaced), but no lives were lost and no one was injured.As of 2011, the aircraft is still in service with KLM under the KLM Asia livery.
Flight 867 now operates the Amsterdam-Osaka (Kansai) route.
Similar incidents
In a nearly identical incident on 24 June 1982, British Airways Flight 9British Airways Flight 9
British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to by its callsign Speedbird 9 or Jakarta incident, was a scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Auckland, with stops in Bombay, Madras, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, and Melbourne....
from London Heathrow
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, whilst on the sector from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, Western Australia, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
from the eruption of Mount Galunggung, causing all four engines to fail due to compressor stall
Compressor stall
A compressor stall is a situation of abnormal airflow resulting from a stall of the aerofoils within the compressor of a jet engine. Stall is found in dynamic compressors, particularly axial compressors, as used in jet engines and turbochargers for reciprocating engines.Compressor stalls result in...
. The aircraft was diverted to Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, and was able to glide far enough to exit the ash cloud, restart its engines and land safely.