​​About 2341, American Samoa standard time, on January 30, 1974, Pan American World Airways Flight 806 crashed 3, 865 feed short of runway 5 at Pago Pago​ International Airport. The flight was making an ILS approach at night. Of the 101 persons aboard the aircraft, only 5 survived the accident. One survivor died of injuries 9 days after the accident. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.

​We determined that the probable cause of the accident was the flightcrew's late recognition and failure to correct in a timely manner an excessive descent rate which developed as a result of the aircraft's penetration through destabilizing wind changes. The winds consisted of horizontal and vertical components produced by heavy rainstorm and influenced by uneven terrain close to the aircraft's approach path. The captain's recognition was hampered by restricted visibility, the illusory effects of a "blackhole" approach, inadequate monitering of flight instruments, and the failure of the crew to call out descent rate during the last 15 seconds of flight. 

​​As a result of this investigation, we made​ the following new safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration.