Six people died inside the cabin of a Greek government Falcon 900B jet on 14 September 1999 after violent turbulence struck the aircraft during its descent into Bucharest's Otopeni Airport, even though the plane landed normally and suffered almost no visible external damage.
Among the dead was Deputy Foreign Minister Giannos Kranidiotis, who was leading a Greek delegation to the Interbalkan Conference of Foreign Ministers in Romania. His 23-year-old son, Nikolas, was travelling with him and also died, along with diplomats, journalists and a crew member.
What happened on flight OA 3838
The flight had taken off from Elliniko airport in Athens and was nearing Bucharest when the Falcon 900B began suffering extremely violent vertical oscillations during its descent. According to the official investigation, the aircraft went through ten sharp oscillations in around 24 seconds, with acceleration forces reaching as high as +4.7 g and as low as -3.26 g.
Passengers who were not strapped in were thrown from their seats and struck the cabin ceiling and interior with enormous force. The cabin was wrecked: seats and tables broke apart, objects were ripped loose and scattered, and even metal equipment was hurled through the space.
The crew managed to regain control of the aircraft, declared an emergency, requested an immediate approach and medical assistance, and landed the Falcon at Otopeni without further incident. From the ground, the aircraft gave no sign of what had happened inside during the descent.
The victims
Rescuers pulled six bodies from the cabin: Giannos Kranidiotis; his son, Nikolas; ERT journalist Dimitris Pantazopoulos; journalist Nina Asimakopoulou; police officer Nikos Asimakopoulos, who was part of the minister's personal security detail; and engineer Michalis Papadopoulos.
ERT cameraman Panagiotis Poulos was pulled out severely injured. He was flown back to Greece but died of his injuries a few days later, bringing the final death toll to seven.
Investigation findings
Investigators did not attribute the tragedy to ordinary turbulence. Their final report pointed to a combination of factors: a malfunction in the aircraft's pitch feel system, crew inputs that amplified the aircraft's oscillations, and the fact that seatbelts were not fastened during the descent.
The Falcon never crashed. Yet by the time its wheels touched down normally on the runway at Bucharest, the fatal flight had already ended for six of the people on board.
Other events on 14 September through history
- 628: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius returned in triumph to Constantinople after victorious campaigns against the Persian Empire, reversing earlier Persian territorial gains.
- 1814: The Filiki Eteria, a secret society that helped prepare the Greek War of Independence of 1821, was founded in Odessa by Nikolaos Skoufas, Emmanuil Xanthos and Athanasios Tsakalov.
- 1829: Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Adrianople, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829 and clearing the way for Greek independence in 1830.
- 1867: Karl Marx published the first volume of Das Kapital in Hamburg.
- 1890: The Orpheus athletic and cultural association was founded in Smyrna; it merged with the Gymnasion club in 1898 to form Panionios.
- 1901: US President William McKinley died from wounds suffered eight days earlier when he was shot in Buffalo by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president the same day, at age 42.
- 1943: The Viannos Holocaust began in Crete, with Wehrmacht units executing hundreds of civilians and destroying villages over the following three days in reprisal for resistance activity.
- 1959: The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 reached the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to touch its surface.
- 1960: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, was founded in Baghdad by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
- 2001: Greek singer Stelios Kazantzidis died at age 70.
Births and deaths marked on this date
Those born on 14 September include Greek diplomat and writer Ion Dragoumis in 1878, former Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis in 1956, and singer Amy Winehouse in 1983.
Those who died on this date include Greek novelist M. Karagatsis in 1960, actress Grace Kelly in 1982, Stelios Kazantzidis in 2001, actor Patrick Swayze in 2009, and Greek actor Takis Spyridakis in 2019.
