Park Yong-chul (pilot)

Park Yong-chul
Born 1955
Sacheon, South Korea
Died August 6, 1997 (aged 42)
Nimitz Hill, Guam
Nationality South Korean
Occupation Pilot
Known for Korean Air Flight 801
Korean name
Hangul 박용철
Hanja 朴鏞喆
Revised Romanization Bak Yong-cheol
McCune–Reischauer Pak Yongch'ŏl

Park Yong-Chul (Hangul: 박용철; c. 1955 – August 6, 1997) was a South Korean aviator and the captain of Korean Air Flight 801.[1][2]

Life and career

Park was born in 1950 in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 1973 he was in the Kyungnam University Department of Public Administration and received his Bachelor's degree. In 1975, he enrolled in the Kangwon National University Graduate School of Electrical Engineering, graduating in 1975 with a Master's degree. In 1975 he joined the 14th class of the Air Force's pilot corps, was commissioned a lieutenant, and continued in military service until 1981. He subsequently attended Sangji University, where he received a BA degree in Business Administration. In 1978, he graduated from the National Defense Graduate School of Public Administration in 1984. In 1986 he received a pilot's award for excellence from the Air Force Chief of Staff. Park joined Korean Air on November 2, 1987. The following year (1988), he became an airline pilot as first officer in the Boeing 727. In 1989, the airline won the Welden and Flight Safety Awards, which were both awarded for excellence. Park became a captain with Korean Air in 1992, also on the 727. Park became a Boeing 747 captain in 1995 and lasted until the crash of flight 801 in 1997.[1][3]

Personal life

He lived in his home in Galsa-dong, Gangseo District, Seoul, until 1997. He was married and had two children, a son and a daughter.[1]

Death

On August 6, 1997, Park was flying as the captain of Korean Air flight 801, along with first officer Song Kung-ho and flight engineer Nam Suk-hoon.[2][4] The flight was bound for Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in the U.S. territory of Guam (Park had landed at Guam's airport nine times previously, respectively) and was using a Boeing 747-300. However the aircraft crashed into Nimitz Hill during final approach to runway 6L, killing 228 of the 254 people on board, (including Park and the other two flight crew members).[5][3] The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the crash was pilot error.[6][7]

Education

References

  1. 1 2 3 "비운의 조종사들/안전 표창 받았건만…". The Hankyoreh. 1997-08-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2018-09-28 – via www.mediagaon.or.kr.
  2. 1 2 NTSB Report, pp.3, 15
  3. 1 2 "Final Approach." Mayday.
  4. ↑ "DOCKET NO.: SA-517 EXHIBIT NO. 2F." NTSB
  5. ↑ "Two Systems Down in KAL 801 Crash," Honolulu Star-Bulletin
  6. ↑ "CONTROLLED FLIGHT INTO TERRAIN KOREAN AIR FLIGHT 801 BOEING 747-300, HL7468 NIMITZ HILL, GUAM AUGUST 6, 1997" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board, Washington D.C. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  7. ↑ Pollack, Andrew. "Pilot Error Is Suspected in Crash on Guam," The New York Times. August 8, 1997. Retrieved on October 25, 2010.
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