What happened
On the scheduled flight from Saipan to Palau via Guam and Yap, an Air Micronesia Boeing 727 was performing its approach to Runway 07 at Yap. During the downwind leg of the approach, the crew performed various checks regarding runway clearance, fire service positioning, and wind direction. During this phase, the captain temporarily handed flight controls to the first officer to take photographs of the airport, later passing the camera to the second officer.
As the aircraft transitioned from the downwind leg toward the final approach, it descended through various altitudes. At a point 1.5 miles from the runway threshold, the aircraft was approximately 480 feet above the runway elevation. At 09:52, the aircraft made contact with the ground 13 feet before reaching the start of Runway 07. Upon impact, the right main landing gear detached from the airframe. The aircraft subsequently drifted off the runway surface and stopped in nearby jungle vegetation roughly 1,700 feet past the initial touchdown point. A significant fire broke out along the right side of the fuselage immediately following the stop. All passengers and crew successfully evacuated the aircraft within one minute of it coming to a halt.
Findings
The investigation determined that the accident was caused by the captain reducing engine thrust too early while maintaining an excessively shallow approach angle. This maneuver led to a high rate of descent and a touchdown on upward-sloping terrain before the runway threshold. The resulting impact forces exceeded the structural limits of the aircraft, causing the right landing gear to fail. Additional contributing factors included the pilot's lack of recent experience with the Boeing 727 and the inappropriate application of landing techniques used in his previous operation of DC-10 aircraft.