Olympic Airways Flight 954
Douglas DC-6B · Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
From Chania International Airport (CHQ) to Dongyang Hengdian General Airport (HEW)
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
- 90 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 90
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Douglas DC-6B
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-6
- 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
- SX-DAE
- Operator
- Olympic Airways
- Onboard fatalities
- 90
- Route
- From Chania International Airport (CHQ)To Dongyang Hengdian General Airport (HEW)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
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
Olympic Airways Flight 954 was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that crashed into a mountain near Keratea (approx. coordinates 37°48' N, 23°57' E), Greece, on December 8, 1969. All 85 passengers and 5 crew on board died in the crash.
Crash
The flight was a domestic scheduled passenger service from Chania on the island of Crete to Athens. While on approach to Athens and with its undercarriage retracted, the aircraft struck Mount Paneio at an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet. The weather at the time of the crash was characterized by rain and high winds.
The crash of Flight 954 was the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history at the time it took place, a record it maintained until the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522 nearly thirty-six years later. It is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Douglas DC-6, and the deadliest crash in the history of Olympic Airways.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It was ruled that the flight crew had deviated from the proper track and descended below the minimum safe altitude while making an ILS approach.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Olympic Airways Flight 954” (revision 1372688441, 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: Olympic Airways Flight 954
- Article
- Olympic Airways Flight 954
- Revision
- 1372688441 · 2026-09-01 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q2254868
- 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 "Olympic Airways Flight 954" (page 35282774, revision 1372688441)
- 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.