The aircraft was a Boeing 737-5L9, which made its maiden flight on June 14, 1990. The aircraft was delivered to Maersk Air on June 26 the same year. The aircraft was then leased to Asiana Airlines on November 26, 1992.
Passengers and crew
There were three Japanese nationals and two American nationals among the passengers, many of whom were vacationers heading for the popular summer resort there off the Yellow Sea, according to the airline. The captain was Hwang In-ki, and the first officer was Park Tae-hwan. There were four flight attendants on board.
Nationality
Passengers
Crew
Total
South Korea
105
6
111
Japan
3
3
United States
2
2
Total
110
6
116
Accident
On July 26, 1993, flight 733 departed Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, bound for Mokpo Airport, for a scheduled arrival at 15:15. At that time, the weather conditions in Mokpo and Yeongam County area consisted of heavy rain and wind. However, the weather conditions were not enough to delay the arrival time. The flight planned to land on runway 06. The aircraft made its first landing attempt at 15:24, which failed, followed by a second landing attempt at 15:28, which also failed. At 15:38, after two failed landing attempts, the aircraft made a third attempt. The twin-engine plane then disappeared from the radar at 15:41. At 15:48 the aircraft crashed into a ridge, Mt. Ungeo, at. At 15:50, the wreckage was found near Masanri, Hwasun County, Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, about 10 kilometers southwest of Mokpo Airport. The news was reported by two surviving passengers who escaped from the wreckage and ran to the Hwawon-myeon branch of the village below the mountain. The passengers reported that the aircraft began to veer off course.
Cause
Asiana Airlines announced that after the accident, the plane was slowed down by three landing attempts and that it appeared to have crashed. Experts said the distance to the runway was shorter in one direction only. The runways did not have an ILS installed. Mokpo Airport was only equipped with VOR/DME, resulting in pilots performing excessive landing attempts in some cases, and was a contributing cause of the accident. A prosecution in charge of investigating the accident, announced that the aircraft had disappeared from the normal flight route, and pilots were likely to make an unintentional landing with a misunderstanding. Both pilots were killed in the crash. Chung Jong-hwan, the director general of the Ministry of Transportation, said that captain Hwang's actions caused the crash. An inquiry found pilot error was the cause of the crash when the plane began a descent while it was still passing over a mountain peak. The flight recorders were found and they recorded that after the third attempt, the crew told the control tower that the aircraft was veering off course. According to the cockpit voice recorder, captain Hwang flew the aircraft below the minimum safe altitude, as he said, "OK, 800 ," a few seconds before impact.
Aftermath
This was Asiana Airlines' first fatal aircraft crash since the airline was established. After the accident Asiana suspended the Gimpo - Mokpo route. The airline paid compensation to anguished families of the victims. In addition, at the time the transportation department was planning to build Muan International Airport in Muan County, Jeolla Province. When Muan International Airport was opened in 2007, Mokpo Airport was closed and converted into a military base. The accident also caused Asiana to cancel their order of Boeing 757-200's and instead ordered the Airbus A321. After the crash of flight 733, Asiana Airlines had two more crashes in July of 2011 and July of 2013, resulting in what the airline referred to as the curse of seven. Flight 733 was the deadliest aviation accident in South Korea at that time. It was surpassed by Air China Flight 129, which crashed on April 15, 2002, with 129 fatalities. It was also the deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737-500 at that time. It was surpassed by Aeroflot Flight 821, which crashed on September 14, 2008, with 88 fatalities. As of 2020, flight 733 remains the second deadliest crash in both of these categories.
