Madinah - Dhaka

On March 25, 2008 at 08:27 AM, Madinah - Dhaka experienced a crash involving Boeing 747-300, operated by Saudi Arabian Airlines - SAUDIA, with the event recorded near Dhaka-Hazrat Shahjalal (ex Zia Ul-Haq) Dhaka.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

326 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 326 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 19, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 307, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. TF-ARS (B747-300) was on a scheduled flight from Medina (Saudi Arabia) to Dhaka (Bangladesh), flight number SVA810. The flight crew consisted of a commander, copilot and a flight engineer. The cabin crew consisted of 15 crew members including one senior cabin attendant. Additionally to the cabin crew, one “off duty” cabin crew member was in the cabin. According to the commander, the flight from Medina and the landing at Dhaka was uneventful. During the landing roll, approximately 50 seconds after touchdown, the flight crew received a call from the tower controller where the tower controller inquired whether the aircraft was under control. The flight crew responded to the call by stating that the aircraft was completely under control and asked what the problem seemed to be. The controller then informed the flight crew that fire was observed at the right wing area. At this point the Aerodrome Fire Operator had already activated the fire fighters as well as the rescue team. As soon as the controller had informed the flight crew about the fire, the flight crew received a No. 3 engine fire alarm. The co-pilot immediately discharged the first engine fire bottle and the flight crew requested firefighter assistance and shut down all engines. The co-pilot waited 20 seconds until the second fire bottle was discharged. At this time the commander called the senior cabin attendant to the flight deck using the public address system (PA). This command was followed by a command to the cabin crew to remain seated. The commander informed the senior cabin attendant of the situation and instructed him to evaluate the situation and to evacuate the passengers if necessary. The senior cabin attendant went back down to the main deck and saw the smoke and the fire through the windows. He then commanded the cabin crew as well as passengers, by using a megaphone, to evacuate the aircraft. The cabin attendant at location L2 (see figure 6-7, page 21) had already operated the emergency exit and started evacuating the passengers. Cabin attendants at locations L1 and R2 (see figure 6-7, page 21) also operated their respective emergency exits. After realizing that smoke and fire were at the right hand side, the emergency exit at R2 was blocked by one of the cabin attendants. All passengers managed to evacuate without serious injuries and the fire department at Zia International Airport managed to extinguish the fire successfully. The damage to the aircraft was later evaluated as beyond economical repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration TF-ARS, MSN 22996/586, year of manufacture 1983.