 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2009) |
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1988 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | October 1996 | ||||||
| Hubs | Istanbul Atatürk Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 1 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey | ||||||
| Key people | Mehmet Birgen (Founder) | ||||||
Birgenair was a Turkish charter airline established in 1988 with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. [1] It ceased operations in October 1996, following the crash of Birgenair Flight 301.
Birgenair was founded in 1988 and began flight operations in August 1989 with a Douglas DC-8-61. [2] The aircraft initially came on special charter flights for Turkish guest workers. [3] With the increase in mass tourism in Turkey, a close cooperation with the German tour operator developed Öger Tours that allowed the company to expand in the early 1990s. In April 1992, the fleet was expanded with a Boeing 757-200 and in March 1993 with a Boeing 737-300. [4] To improve the utilization of the aircraft, the Boeing 757 was operated temporarily for other airlines in the wet-lease in the winter months with little demand, including for the Caribbean Airways, based in Barbados. [5] The company sold its DC-8 in 1994 to ABX Air and leased successively two Boeing 727-200 from Yemenia and one McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 from Skyjet.
In order to be able to continue its transatlantic flights in the winter season 1995/96, Öger Tours and Birgenair entered into a cooperation with the newly founded Dominican company Alas Nacionales in 1995. This Puerto Plata-based company held an Air Operator Certificate, but no aircraft. Alas Nacionales applied for route rights for flights to Germany, which should be operated by Birgenair. In return, the shareholders of the Dominican company were offered the prospect of a bonus of 10 DM per passenger carried. After receiving the flight rights, Birgenair transferred its Boeing 767-200ER to the Dominican Republic, where the aircraft was registered with the partner company on October 25, 1995, with the registration HI-660CA. The aircraft officially leased to Alas Nacionales continued to wear the colors of Turkish society except for a changed lettering. Its charter flights between the Dominican Republic and Germany began a week later. In addition, Birgenair rented its Boeing 757-200 to the Argentine airline STAF in November 1995 and used it on five flight pairs between the Dominican Republic and Buenos Aires. After the lease ended in January 1996, the Boeing 757 was parked in Puerto Plata. [6]
Massive negative publicity about Birgenair and other discount flight organizers in Germany following Birgenair Flight 301 caused a sharp decline in reservations. As a result, Birgenair suspended all flights immediately after the crash. It was originally planned to resume flight operations in the following year. However, the company filed for bankruptcy later that year. [3]
Over the years, Birgenair operated the following aircraft types: [7]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 707-320C | 1 | 1991 | 1991 | Leased from TAROM. [8] |
| Boeing 727-200 | 2 | 1994 | 1994 | Leased from Yemenia. [9] |
| Boeing 737-300 | 1 | 1993 | 1996 | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 2 | 1992 | 1996 | One crashed as Flight 301 |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 1 | 1995 | 1996 | Leased to Alas Nacionales |
| Douglas DC-8-61 | 1 | 1989 | 1994 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 | 1 | 1994 | 1994 | Leased from Skyjet. [10] |
On February 6, 1996, Birgenair Flight 301 was bound for Frankfurt, Germany but crashed shortly after take-off from Puerto Plata Airport in the Dominican Republic into Atlantic Ocean 26 kilometres off-shore. All 176 passengers and 13 crew members were killed on impact. It was found that one of the air speed indicators of the Boeing 757-200 was not working properly due to a mud dauber wasp having made a nest in a pitot tube, confusing the pilots about whether the plane's speed was too fast or too slow. [11] The black box, data recorder pointed to error by the captain, because instead of measuring the air speed through one of the working air speed indicators he continued to use the faulty indicator and did not return to the airport. The aircraft was leased due to a problem on the scheduled aircraft for the flight. [12]
North American Airlines, Inc., was an American airline with its headquarters at the HLH Building in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta, United States. Prior to May 2008, it operated scheduled international services from the U.S. to Africa and Guyana. Later it operated domestic and international charter services and wet lease services. Its main aircraft and maintenance base was Tampa International Airport.
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland. Its major shareholder is the government of Finland, which owns 55.9% of its shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Gregorio Luperón International Airport, also known as Puerto Plata Airport, is located in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It is the Dominican Republic's fourth busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements, after Punta Cana, Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros. The airport is named after General Gregorio Luperón, a Dominican military and state leader. Capable of handling planes of all sizes, Puerto Plata Airport has benefited from being in an area with many beaches, which are popular among charter airline passengers. The popularity of the city where it is located has also drawn a number of regularly scheduled passenger airlines over the years.
Compañía Dominicana de Aviación, usually shortened to Dominicana, was an airline based in the Dominican Republic and served as the flag carrier for the country.
Condor, legally incorporated as Condor Flugdienst GmbH, is a German airline based in Neu Isenburg, Hesse. It was established in 1955 with Frankfurt Airport as its main base. Condor offers scheduled and charter flights and operates, from Germany, medium-haul flights to the Mediterranean Basin and the Canary Islands as well as long-haul flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, North America, South America and the Caribbean. Whereas medium-haul flights are operated from many German airports and Zurich, long-haul flights usually depart from Frankfurt, with a few charter services operated from Düsseldorf and Munich.
Air Santo Domingo was the flag carrier airline of the Dominican Republic. It operated scheduled domestic services and flights to Haiti and Puerto Rico. It wet-leased additional aircraft from Servicios Aéreos Profesionales, which it used for ad hoc, on demand charter services to the United States.
Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas, more commonly known by the acronym LAPA, was an airline based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At its heyday, the carrier operated international services to the United States and Uruguay, as well as an extensive domestic network within Argentina. Additionally, the company also operated charter services. Domestic and regional flights were operated from downtown's Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, whereas an international service to Atlanta was operated from Ministro Pistarini International Airport. LAPA was the first carrier to break a monopolistic market controlled by Aerolíneas Argentinas and its sister company Austral Líneas Aéreas, offering competitive prices.
Aeroperú Flight 603 (PL603/PLI603) was a scheduled passenger flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, with stopovers in Quito, Ecuador, and Lima, Peru. On October 2, 1996, the Boeing 757-23A aircraft flying the final leg of the flight crashed into the Pacific Ocean. There were no survivors among 70 people on board.
Nuevo Continente was a passenger airline based in Lima, Peru, operating scheduled domestic and international flights out of Jorge Chavez International Airport.
Omni Air International, LLC. is a United States charter airline headquartered in Hangar 19 on the grounds of Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It is specialized in passenger charter flights and Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) wet leasing. Omni Air International is a member of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet as a long-range international carrier. Omni Air International is a FAA Part 121 certificated airline with IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registration.
MyTravel Airways Limited was a British scheduled and charter airline with headquarters in Manchester, England. It operated worldwide holiday charter services mainly for its parent company, the MyTravel Group. The airline merged with Thomas Cook Airlines UK Limited in 2008 and was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines Limited.
Ghana International Airlines (GIA) was the national airline of the Republic of Ghana between 2005 and 2010. The airline suspended operations on 13 May 2010.
Titan Airways Limited is a British charter airline based at London Stansted Airport. The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI and wet lease operations, as well as ad-hoc passenger and cargo charter services to tour operators, corporations, governments, and the sports and entertainment sectors. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail, on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
A pitot–static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used in aviation to determine an aircraft's airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend. A pitot–static system generally consists of a pitot tube, a static port, and the pitot–static instruments. Other instruments that might be connected are air data computers, flight data recorders, altitude encoders, cabin pressurization controllers, and various airspeed switches. Errors in pitot–static system readings can be extremely dangerous as the information obtained from the pitot static system, such as altitude, is potentially safety-critical. Several commercial airline disasters have been traced to a failure of the pitot–static system.
Birgenair Flight 301 was a flight chartered by Turkish-managed Birgenair partner Alas Nacionales from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic to Frankfurt, Germany, via Gander, Canada, and Berlin, Germany. On 6 February 1996, the Boeing 757-200 operating the route crashed shortly after take-off from Puerto Plata's Gregorio Luperón International Airport. All 189 people on board died. The cause was pilot error after receiving incorrect airspeed information from one of the pitot tubes, which investigators believe was blocked by a wasp nest built inside it. The aircraft had been sitting unused for 20 days, and without pitot tube covers in place for the preceding two days before the crash. It is also the deadliest aviation accident in the Dominican Republic. Before 1995, the deadliest aviation accident in the Dominican Republic was the crash of a Dominicana de Aviacion DC-9 in 1970.
APA International Air, Inc. was an airline based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic that was operational between 1980 and 2001.
Alas Nacionales S.A. was a Puerto Plata-based carrier that operated charter flights between Dominican Republic and Germany. The airline served as a representative of Birgenair.
Independent Air was an airline based in the United States, that was founded in 1970. The airline ceased operations in 1990.
On October 29, 2015, Dynamic Airways Flight 405, a Boeing 767 on a scheduled passenger service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Caracas, Venezuela, suffered a fire while taxiing for departure. All 101 passengers and crew evacuated the aircraft and survived, but twenty-two of them were injured.
Saarland Airlines was a short-lived German charter airline based in Düsseldorf that operated from 1992 to 1993.
It had not been flown for 20 days before the accident...Investigators believe that the engine [covers] and pitot covers were not installed before or after the engine ground test.
Media related to Birgenair at Wikimedia Commons
