Accident description
Last updated: 19 May 2013
| Status: | Preliminary |
| Date: | 15 MAR 2000 |
| Time: | ca 23:40 |
| Type: | Airbus A330-322 |
| Operator: | Malaysia Airlines |
| Registration: | 9M-MKB |
| C/n / msn: | 068 |
| First flight: | 1995 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4168 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 14 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 252 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 266 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) (Malaysia)
 |
| Phase: | Standing (STD) |
| Nature: | International Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Beijing-Capital Airport (PEK/ZBAA), China |
| Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL/WMKK), Malaysia | |
| Flightnumber: | 085 |
After arrival from a flight from Beijing, baggage handlers were unloading 80 canisters weighing 2,000kg when they were hit by the strong toxic fumes. Five ground handlers became ill while unloading the canisters.
A check by airport fire and rescue personnel revealed the canisters contained a chemical called oxalyl chloride. Several canisters had leaked, causing severe damage to the aircraft fuselage. The aircraft was considered damaged beyond repair.
After a fice-year lawsuit a Beijing court ordered Dalian, a Chinese state-run company, to pay USD65 million in compensation, plus interest, for destroying the Airbus A330 with falsely declared cargo with corrosive chemicals. The company had mis-identified the canisters as being a safe powder-type chemical.
Events:
Sources:
» Daily Express
» Chinese chemical firm ordered to pay insurers $65mln in plane damage case (People's Daily Online, 6-12-2007)
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Beijing-Capital Airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport as the crow flies is 4383 km (2740 miles).
Distance from Beijing-Capital Airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport as the crow flies is 4383 km (2740 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
