Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109

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Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109
152ay - Aeropostal DC-9-34F (CF); YV-37C@PMV;10.10.2001 (8232561272).jpg
An Aeropostal McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 similar to the one involved.
Accident
DateMarch 5, 1991 (1991-03-05)
Summary Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
SiteNear La Valesa, Venezuela
Aircraft
Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Operator Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
Registration YV-23C
Flight origin La Chinita International Airport, Maracaibo, Venezuela
Destination Santa Barbara Ed-L Delicias Airport, Venezuela
Occupants45
Passengers40
Crew5
Fatalities45
Survivors0

Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 [1] [2] was a short-haul flight from La Chinita International Airport in Maracaibo, Venezuela to Santa Barbara Ed-L Delicias Airport that crashed on March 5, 1991.

Contents

Aircraft

The aircraft used on Flight 109 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, which has been in service with Aeropostal for 14 years; the aircraft had been manufactured in 1976. [3]

The "Guillotine of Los Andes"

The Páramo "Los Torres" is known among Venezuelan pilots as The Guillotine ("Russian roulette") of the Andes. In a literal sense, it is a steep, usually foggy mountain that pilots had trouble avoiding before proper ground proximity warning systems were installed in planes. Prior to Flight 109, two other commercial aircraft had crashed near "The Guillotine". On December 15, 1950, an Avensa Douglas DC-3 flying from Mérida to Caracas crashed, killing all 28 passengers and 3 crew. Ten years later, on December 15, 1960, a Ransa flight crashed, killing all of its passengers. [4]

Accident

Wreckage of YV-23C Tragedia paramo las torres x8x1 (820817238).jpg
Wreckage of YV-23C

Flight 109 took off from La Chinita International Airport with 45 passengers and crew. Several minutes later, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 crashed on the side of a foggy mountain near "The Guillotine" near La Valesa in the La Aguada sector of the Páramo Los Torres and burst into flames. All 45 people on board died. [3]

Cause

An investigation into the accident found that the cause of the crash was pilot error. The pilots inadvertently entered the wrong radial into their navigation system and went off course. Because of fog in the area, the pilots did not know they were on a collision course with the mountain. [5] [6]

See also

Other wreckage from YV-23C Tragedia paramo las torres x9x (1798447750).jpg
Other wreckage from YV-23C

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References

  1. "Historias de la Violencia. Muerte en el Páramo" [Stories of Violence: Death in the Moorlands]. El Universal (in Spanish). July 24, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  2. Suensverg, Nunziatina Maugeri (March 5, 2023). "Se cumplen 32 años de la tragedia del vuelo 109 de Aeropostal" [32 years since the tragedy of Aeropostal flight 109]. Noticia al Dia (in Spanish). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 YV-23C Valera". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on April 12, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  4. Zabala, Ángel Mendoza (March 5, 2016). ""Cadena de errores 'tumbó' el avión de Aeropostal": experto aeronáutico" ["Chain of errors 'knocked down' the Aeropostal plane": aeronautical expert]. panorama.com.ve (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  5. Bravo, Luis (March 5, 2016). "Hace 25 años se estrelló vuelo 108 de Aeropostal en páramo Los Torres (fotos)" [25 years ago Aeropostal flight 108 crashed in Los Torres páramo (photos)]. panorama.com.ve (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  6. "Crash of a Douglas DC-9-32 on Mt La Aguada: 45 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  7. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident ATR 42-300 YV1449 Mérida-A Carnevalli Airport (MRD)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2021.