Lufthansa Flight 540
D-ABYB, the 747 involved, seen on 9 July 1970 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 November 1974 |
| Summary | Crashed shortly after takeoff due to pilot error and design flaw |
| Site | Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya 1°19′09″S 36°55′39″E / 1.3192°S 36.9275°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 747-130 |
| Aircraft name | Hessen |
| Operator | Lufthansa |
| IATA flight No. | LH540 |
| ICAO flight No. | DLH540 |
| Call sign | LUFTHANSA 540 |
| Registration | D-ABYB |
| Flight origin | Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt, West Germany |
| Stopover | Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya |
| Destination | OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Occupants | 157 |
| Passengers | 139 |
| Crew | 18 |
| Fatalities | 59 |
| Injuries | 55 |
| Survivors | 98 |
Lufthansa Flight 540 was a scheduled commercial flight for Lufthansa, serving the Frankfurt–Nairobi–Johannesburg route.
On 20 November 1974, the Boeing 747-130 that was operating as Flight 540 was carrying 157 people (139 passengers and 18 crew members) crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, for the last leg of the flight, resulting in the deaths of 54 passengers and 5 crew members. The crash was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 747, and it remains the deadliest crash in the history of Lufthansa. It also remains as the deadliest aviation accident to occur in Kenya.