Sunflower Airlines accident near Nadi
de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2B · Loss of control following structural failure
From Savusavu Airport, to Nadi International Airport (NAN)
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
- 11 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 3
- 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
- 3
- 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
de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2B
- Aircraft type
- de Havilland DH-114
- 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
- DQ-FEF
- Operator
- Sunflower Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 11
- Route
- From Savusavu Airport,To Nadi International Airport (NAN)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Nadi International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The Sunflower Airlines accident near Nadi occurred on 27 December 1986, when a de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2B on a domestic scheduled flight of Sunflower Airlines from Savusavu to Nadi went out of control on final approach to Nadi Airport and crashed, killing 11 of the 14 people on board.
Until Air Fiji Flight 121, it was thus the deadliest civil aviation accident in Fiji.
Accident sequence
The flight proceeded without any particular incidents until, on final approach to Nadi, the right flap jammed at a setting of 35 degrees while the left one was at a position of 60 degrees. The aircraft then rolled to the left and crashed to the ground shortly before the runway. Both pilots and nine passengers were killed, while the remaining three passengers were seriously injured.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It was found that a bolt of the flap attachment had come loose and become wedged in a lightening hole. As a result, the flap had jammed in the 35-degree position. The investigators were able to establish that the type of bolt used did not correspond to the one certified for the aircraft, so that the accident was attributable to improper maintenance.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Sunflower Airlines bei Nadi” (revision 228176641, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Sunflower Airlines bei Nadi
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 228176641 · 2022-11-21 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q115299409
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Sunflower Airlines bei Nadi" (page 12448505, revision 228176641), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.