CAAC Flight 301
Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E · Pilot error and bad weather
From Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former) to Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 7 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 89
- Survivors
- 82
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 15
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E
- Aircraft type
- Hawker Siddeley Trident 2
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- B-2218
- Operator
- Caac
- Onboard fatalities
- 7
- Route
- From Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former)To Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
CAAC Flight 301, a Hawker Siddeley Trident operated by CAAC Guangzhou Regional Administration from Guangzhou Baiyun to Hong Kong Kai Tak, ran off the runway in Hong Kong on 31 August 1988 after clipping approach lights. Six crew members and one passenger perished in the accident. The crash shut down Kai Tak Airport for more than six hours after the accident.
Accident sequence
While on final approach to Kai Tak Airport, in rain with 450 m visibility, the right wing of the Hawker Siddeley Trident operating the flight clipped approach lights of Runway 31 and the main landing gear tyres hit the runway promontory, causing the right main landing gear to be ripped from the wing. The aircraft then became airborne and impacted the runway 600 m further on. The aircraft then veered off the runway to the right and diagonally crossed the grassed runway strip surrounding it. The nose and left main landing gear then collapsed and the aircraft slid over the parallel taxiway and into Kowloon Bay.
The cockpit was cut off and the rest of the aircraft was intact. Attempts were made by divers to get to the cockpit where the flight crew were stationed but were unsuccessful, the cockpit crew were injured by the impact but autopsies showed that the cause of death was from drowning.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The report noted "There was insufficient evidence to determine the cause of the accident." The report concludes that the final approach became unstable, and that windshear may have been a contributory factor. The final deviation below the normal approach path was probably due to a sudden reduction and distortion of the visual reference caused by heavy rain.
The report further noted that:
"The accident was survivable."
"The flight deck crew were not wearing shoulder harness."
"A sixth crew member in the flight compartment sat on a small metal stool that was not secured in any way,[...]"
"There were no passenger safety leaflets on the aircraft,[...]"
"'One cabin attendant did not fasten her seat belt for landing."
"The approach and departure paths at HKIA are substantially over water but no passenger lifejackets were carried on the aircraft."
Text from the Wikipedia article “CAAC Flight 301” (revision 1353244847, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: CAAC Flight 301
- Article
- CAAC Flight 301
- Revision
- 1353244847 · 2026-05-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q5008496
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "CAAC Flight 301" (page 35114309, revision 1353244847)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.