Middle East Airlines Flight 444
Middle East Airlines Flight 444 was a scheduled passenger flight between Beirut International Airport and Dhahran International Airport. On 17 April 1964, the flight, operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle III crashed into the Persian Gulf about south–southeast of Dhahran International Airport. All 42 passengers and 7 crew members died in the crash. The cause of the crash was never determined.
Aircraft and crew
The accident aircraft was a Lebanese-registered Sud Aviation Caravelle III, the only fleet in the airline, and bore the registration OD–AEM. It was certified airworthy until 29 January 1965, and a maintenance certificate was issued on 5 April. On the date of the crash, the aircraft had flown from Beirut to Ankara and back to its origin city after which some technical problems were fixed. The flight captain was a 33-year-old who had logged 9,193 hours in the air, of which, 235 hours on the Sud Aviation Caravelle. He had 10 hours and 35 minutes on OD–AEM. The co-pilot, aged 36, had flown for 7,691 hours and spent 70 hours on the Sud Aviation Caravelle; 29 hours was on the ill-fated aircraft.Flight
Flight 444 departed Beirut International Airport at 1709 UTC and proceeded with its flight plan to a cruising altitude of. Two hours later, Bahrain air control approved its decent to over the Dhahran navigation beacon. At 19:06, Flight 444 requested the latest wind and visibility updates from Dhahran Tower. The tower reported north–northeasternly winds of, gusting to, with visibility of, although due to a sandstom, was limited to. At 19:09, the crew informed air control it was descending from, and by 19:26, estimated they would reach the navigation beacon in two minutes.At 19:28, Flight 444 reported that it was descending to. It was cleared for an ADF approach and ordered to report again at and. A minute later, the flight confirmed it had passed. At 19:30, the flight reported its altitude at and turned towards the runway. The crew was cleared to land and directed to report once they reached the minimum altitude and saw the runway. A brief loud noise was heard over the radio by the control tower at 19:32 and communication with the flight ceased. It was later discovered that the aircraft crashed into the gulf while making a turn at 19:32. The crash site was located offshore and south of the airport. It impacted the water at a slight nose-down angle, banked to the right, and at speeds consistent with those during landing.