Accident Boeing 707-321B N446PA, Monday 22 April 1974

Date:	Monday 22 April 1974
Time:	22:26
Type:	Boeing 707-321B
Owner/operator:	Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)
Registration:	N446PA
MSN:	19268/544
Year of manufacture:	1966
Total airframe hrs:	28000 hours
Cycles:	9150 flights
Engine model:	P&W JT3D-3B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 107 / Occupants: 107
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	68 km NW of Denpasar - Indonesia
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport (HKG/VHHH)
Destination airport:	Denpasar-Ngurah Rai Bali International Airport (DPS/WADD)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Pan Am flight 812, a Boeing 707-300 named "Clipper Climax", impacted a mountain while on approach to Denpasar-Ngurah Rai Bali Airport, Indonesia, killing all 107 occupants.

Flight PA812 was a scheduled international flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Sydney (SYD), Australia with an intermediate stop at Denpasar (DPS), Bali.
The crew prepared for an approach to runway 09 at Denpasar. The airplane descended to an altitude of 2500 feet when it flew into the side of a mountain.
It appeared that the crew had initiated the let-down procedure after one of the ADF needles swung. The other needle remained steady, but the crew assumed that they were over the beacon when the aircraft was still about 30 NM North of the beacon.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The premature execution of a right-hand turn to join the 263 degrees outbound track which was based on the indication given by only one of the ADFs while the other one was still in steady condition"

Accident investigation: