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SCMP Reporter

Six people died accidentally when a Hercules cargo plane hired to repatriate Vietnamese boat people crashed just after taking off from Kai Tak airport, the coroner has found.

  Yesterday's inquest heard that a crash investigation had concluded the aircraft was properly maintained, even though no evidence could be found of routine check-ups on a suspected broken throttle cable.

  The Lockheed L100-30 Hercules plunged into Kowloon Bay within 19 seconds of taking off on September 23, 1994, the inquest heard. Six of the 12 Indonesian crew on board drowned when the aircraft broke in two and sank.

  Coroner Richard Day yesterday recorded a verdict of accidental death for the six.

  The Hong Kong Government had hired the plane from Pelita Air Service, Jakarta, and had flown 33 Vietnamese detainees to Hanoi earlier on the day of the fatal flight.

  Captain Soeyono Sanarphi, 43, told the court yesterday the plane had not shown any mechanical errors during pre-flight check-ups.

  'The plane appeared to be normal during taxiing. When it took off, I heard a loud noise,' he said. 'It banked to the right, I tried to steer in the opposite direction.

   'I then noticed the fourth engine was abnormal, but there wasn't enough time to shut it off.'    The landing gear struck the verge beside the runway, indicating that the wheels had not fully retracted in the 19 seconds between takeoff and impact, the court heard.

    Civil Aviation assistant director Kwan Hok-chung told the court it was not possible for the pilot to correct the fault so low to the ground - probably at eight metres altitude.

   A crash investigation found the fourth engine was problem-free, suggesting a broken throttle cable attached to it had caused the propeller to malfunction and send the plane out of control, the court heard.

   Mr Kwan said this was only the most likely cause, since the throttle cable could not be retrieved from the sea.

  'We could not find any records of routine check-ups on the cable, but the plane appeared to have been properly maintained,' Mr Kwan said.

   A minor defect might not be detected during maintenance, he said.

   Mr Day concluded: 'The pilot had little or no time and no space to do much about this.

   'The tragic consequence was six people died; another six survived. There was no criticism to be made of the crew.' 



Hercules deaths an accident