TAROM Flight 371

TAROM Flight 371

File:Tarom Airbus A310-300 Bidini.jpg A TAROM Airbus A310-300 similar to aircraft involved in the accident.
Accident summary
Date	31 March 1995
Summary	Mechanical failure followed by pilot error
Site	Baloteşti, Romania
Passengers	50
Crew	10
Fatalities	60 (all)
Aircraft type	Airbus A310-324
Aircraft name	Muntenia
Operator	TAROM
Registration	YR-LCC
Flight origin	Otopeni International Airport
Destination	Brussel-Zaventem Airport

TAROM Flight 371 was an Airbus A310 that crashed near Baloteşti in Romania on 31 March 1995. It was a flight from Bucharest's main Otopeni airport to Brussels.

The flight crashed shortly after it took off. Two main reasons are indicated: first the throttle of the starboard engine jammed, remaining in takeoff thrust, while the other engine reduced slowly to idle, creating an asymmetrical thrust condition that ultimately caused the aircraft to roll over and crash. Second, the crew failed to respond to the thrust asymmetry. The captain did not say anything on the flight recording during the emergency and it was concluded that he was either incapacitated or missing from his seat. The first officer expressed concern (it's not clear whether about the captain or the aircraft attitude) and attempted a recovery just some seconds before the crash. The name of the aircraft was Muntenia, named after the region of Romania. Piloting the Airbus were 49-year-old Captain Liviu Batanoiu and 44-year-old First Officer Ionel Stoi. None of the 10 crew and 50 passengers survived.

32 of the passengers were from Belgium, 10 from Romania, three from the United States, two from Spain, one from France, one from Taiwan, one from the United Kingdom, and one from the Netherlands.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

External links

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• Video information and simulation of the crash
• Planecrashinfo description
• Romanian (YR) air incidents at baaa-acro.com
• Tarom Flight 371 at airdisaster.com