United Arab Airlines Flight 869 (1962)

United Arab Airlines Flight 869
A de Havilland Comet of United Arab Airlines, similar to the aircraft involved
Accident
Date19 July 1962 (1962-07-19)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SiteKhao Yai mountain Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand
Aircraft
Aircraft typede Havilland DH-106 Comet 4C
OperatorUnited Arab Airlines
RegistrationSU-AMW
Flight originKai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, China
StopoverDon Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
DestinationCairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
Occupants26
Passengers18
Crew8
Fatalities26
Survivors0

United Arab Airlines Flight 869 was an international scheduled passenger flight operated by a de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4C from Hong Kong via Bangkok to Cairo. On 19 July 1962 at 13:30 UTC, the plane departed from Hong Kong for the first leg of the flight with 18 passengers and 8 crew aboard. The flight was uneventful until commencing approach to Bangkok, when the plane crashed in the Khao Yai mountain range 96 km NE of Bangkok at 15:44 UTC. There were no survivors.

The investigation found a sequence of mistakes in the navigation by the pilot-in-command as a probable cause, which "resulted in grave errors of time and distance in his computations".