The History of Asiana Airlines Flight 733: A Turning Point in South Korean Aviation

 

The History of Asiana Airlines Flight 733: A Turning Point in South Korean Aviation

On July 26, 1993, Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashed into Mount Ungeo during a domestic flight from Seoul to Mokpo, South Korea. The disaster resulted in the loss of 68 lives out of the 116 passengers and crew on board. It was determined to be a case of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) caused by pilot error during severe weather conditions, marking the first hull loss of a Boeing 737-500.

Beyond the immediate tragedy, the accident reshaped the safety protocols, fleet decisions, and regional infrastructure of aviation in South Korea.

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The Fatal Approach at Mokpo Airport

Flight 733 departed Seoul's Gimpo International Airport bound for the coastal city of Mokpo, carrying many passengers traveling to a popular summer resort on the Yellow Sea. As the aircraft approached its destination, it encountered heavy rain and strong winds.

Mokpo Airport was a challenging destination under such conditions. The airport was not equipped with an Instrument Landing System (ILS) for precision approaches, relying solely on older VOR/DME navigation beacons.

The timeline of the landing attempts highlights the growing stress in the cockpit:

• 15:24 – The aircraft aborts its first landing attempt on Runway 06.
• 15:28 – A second landing attempt fails due to poor visibility and bad weather.
• 15:38 – The crew initiates a third and final attempt to land.
• 15:41 – The twin-engine plane disappears from air traffic control radar screens.
• 15:48 – The aircraft strikes a ridge on Mount Ungeo at an altitude of 800 feet (240 meters), well below the mountain's 1,050-foot peak.

The wreckage was discovered shortly after when two surviving passengers managed to escape the debris and ran down the mountain to a nearby village branch in Haenam County to report the crash.

Investigation and Root Cause

The Ministry of Transportation launched an intensive inquiry into the disaster. The recovered Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and flight data indicated that the crew had become disoriented while trying to navigate the stormy weather without precision tracking instruments.

Investigators concluded that the primary cause of the crash was pilot error. The captain intentionally flew the aircraft below the minimum safe altitude of 1,600 feet (490 meters) while still passing over the mountain peaks. The voice recorder captured the captain saying, "okay, eight hundred," referencing their dangerously low altitude just seconds before the fatal impact. Both pilots perished in the crash.

The Lasting Impact on South Korean Aviation

The tragedy of Flight 733 had a profound, lasting impact on the airline and the region's transportation infrastructure:

• Route and Fleet Changes: Asiana Airlines immediately suspended the Seoul–Mokpo route. The crash also prompted the airline to cancel its existing orders for the Boeing 757-200, choosing instead to pivot its fleet strategy toward Airbus A321 aircraft.
• Airport Infrastructure Overhaul: The lack of precision landing technology at Mokpo Airport accelerated government plans to build a modern replacement. In 2007, the newly constructed Muan International Airport opened to handle commercial traffic. Mokpo Airport was subsequently closed to public flights and converted into a military base.
• Historical Context: At the time, Flight 733 was the deadliest aviation accident in South Korean history, later surpassed by Air China Flight 129 in 2002.

In a quiet nod to history, the route number itself was eventually reassigned; the flight number 733 has since been utilized for a late-evening international route operating between Seoul-Incheon and Hanoi.

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