Lufthansa Flight 540

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Lufthansa Flight 540

D-ABYB, the 747 involved, seen in July 1970
Accident
Date	20 November 1974 (1974-11-20)
Summary	Crashed shortly after takeoff due to pilot error and design flaw
Site	Jomo Kenyatta Int'l Airport, Nairobi, Kenya 1°19′09″S 36°55′39″E / 1.3192°S 36.9275°E / -1.3192; 36.9275
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-130
Aircraft name	Hessen
Operator	Lufthansa
IATA flight No.	LH540
ICAO flight No.	DLH540
Call sign	LUFTHANSA 540
Registration	D-ABYB
Flight origin	Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt, West Germany
Stopover	Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi, Kenya
Destination	Jan Smuts Int'l Airport Johannesburg, South Africa
Occupants	157
Passengers	140
Crew	17
Fatalities	59
Injuries	55
Survivors	98

Lufthansa Flight 540 was a scheduled commercial flight for Lufthansa, serving the Frankfurt–Nairobi–Johannesburg route.

On 20 November 1974, the Boeing 747-130 that was operating as Flight 540 was carrying 157 people (140 passengers and 17 crew members) crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for the last leg of the flight, resulting in the deaths of 55 passengers and 4 crew members. This was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 747.^[1]