KLM Flight 303

Flight 303 was a scheduled flight from Chicago,Illinois,U.S.A, to Amsterdam, Netherlands.

It took off at 6:33 A.M. (CDT) (UCT-6) from the ORD (O'Hare International Airport), enroute to AMS (Amsterdam Airport-Schiphol ).

At 2:23 P.M. (CDT) (UCT-6), the right wing's aileron lost control, sending it at a pitch of 18° to the right, triggering discomfort to the occupants aboard.

## Flight

### Survivors

167

One survivor also reported in which during the aileron failure took effect, the service trolley and objects aboard, started to *"feel lightweight and start sliding to the* *right of the plane's cabin"* (causing two minor injuries).

During the roll, the pilot attempted to counteract the roll by maintaning the left ailerons down, which decreased the roll by 13°, but slowly started another roll the left of 3° which didn't show any discomfort to the occupants aboard.

At 2:41 P.M. (CDT) (UCT-6), the plane started to descend at an uncontrolled rate of 2,101 fpm, with the aircraft exceeding the bank angle, forcing the pilots to pull the sidestick up, but the elevator had a delayed response, and leveling out at 4,543 ft.

The pilot then announced an emergency landing at DUB (Dublin Airport), pulling flaps up, and then gears, slowing down the aircraft.

Then, at 2:56 P.M. (CDT) (UCT-6), the aircraft was almost ready for landing, but in an unfortunate change of events, it hit the runway, alongisde with the landing triggering moderate structural damage to the aircraft, ending 16 lives, and severely injuring 11, 5 of those which succumbed to their injuries.

Ground crew rushed to the scene, extinguishing a partial fire triggered by the landing, evacuating the survivors, transporting them safely to the airport, and transporting some to a nearby hospital for medical attention.

As of now, most of the survivors have fully recovered, some still sustaining injuries from the incident, and some were interrogated about the incident.

# Recovered flight recordings

The following is a recording of the cockpit from the incident.

1. *(Event trigger)*
2. *PIL*;"Ehh....i'm not sure if this is an issue but the aircraft's beginning to pitch..."
3. *PIL;*"I'm not even moving the stick."
4. *CO-PIL*;"Alright, i'll inform a flight attendant to check one of the wings.
5. ...
6. ...
7. ...
8. *CO-PIL;*"We have an issue with the right aileron."
9. *PIL;*"¿Does it appear missing or is it just malfunctioning?"
10. *CO-PIL;*"Malfunction."
11. PIL;"I'll try to handle it."

After the aircraft started to exceed the bank angle;

1. *(Stall alarm)*
2. *PIL;*"Dear god...dear god...."
3. *CO-PIL;*"Try to l-level out the aircraft."
4. *PIL;*"¿How will we do that? Plane's descending rapidly, you know."
5. *CO-PIL;*"Just try."
6. ...
7. ...
8. ...
9. *PIL;*"¡Hey, it actually is working...!"
10. *PIL;*"¿What about the roll?"
11. *CO-PIL;*"We'll handle that later."
12. ...
13. ...
14. *(Stall alarm stops)*
15. *PIL;*"¿Would you look at that? The descent stopped."
16. *PIL;*"But, ¿wouldn't we want to land as soon as possible?"
17. *CO-PIL;*"I supose you're right."
18. *PIL;*"Descending now."
19. *GWPS;*"One thousand, five hundred, four hundred, three hundred..."
20. *CO-PIL;*"Now remember, slowy..."
21. *GWPS*;"Fifty,forty,thirty twenty te-"
22. *(Collision, with what sounds like metal scraping and wind.)*
23. *CO-PIL;*"¡I TOLD YOU TO DO IT SLOWLY!"
24. *PIL;*"NOT MY FAULT...SOMETHING HAPPENED...
25. *(Wind sound is fading)*

The recording stopped a few seconds after collision. It is unclear if the aircraft has collided with another aircraft during this incident, as another aircraft was in the runway at the time of collision.