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 HK-1717, an aircraft similar to the one involved | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | March 17, 1988 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error, lack of crew resource management |
| Site | Cúcuta, Colombia 8°05′01″N72°41′33″W / 8.0837°N 72.6925°W /8.0837; -72.6925 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727-21 |
| Aircraft name | Antonio Villavicencio |
| Operator | Avianca |
| IATA flight No. | AV410 |
| ICAO flight No. | AVA410 |
| Call sign | AVIANCA 410 |
| Registration | HK-1716 |
| Flight origin | Camilo Daza Int'l Airport |
| Destination | Rafael Núñez Int'l Airport |
| Occupants | 143 |
| Passengers | 136 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 143 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Avianca Flight 410 was a flight that crashed at 13:17 on March 17, 1988, nearCúcuta,Colombia, which occurred shortly after takeoff when itflew into a mountain. All 143 people on board were killed. It was the deadliestaviation accident to occur in Colombia untilAmerican Airlines Flight 965.[1]
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Theaircraft involved, manufactured in 1966, was aBoeing 727-21 owned and operated byAvianca. It wasregistered as HK-1716serial number 18999. It had flown previously withPan Am, originally registered as N321PA and named Clipper Koln-Bonn; it was sold on September 20, 1974, to Avianca. It had logged 43,848 hours of airframe time and was powered by threePratt & Whitney JT8D-7A engines.[2][3]
The plane took off from Cúcuta at around 13:17 from runway 33 bound for Cartagena. There was no further information from the plane until ground witnesses claimed that they saw a Boeing 727 flying too low. The plane contacted some trees and then, at 13:18, it struck the mountain head on. The 727 broke in half and disintegrated when the fuel exploded; the remains were scattered in a 60-meter (200 ft) radius. There were no survivors among the 7 crew and 136 passengers.[1]
Rescue operations and commissions rushed to the crash site, which was impossible to reach due to nightfall and the resulting low visibility. Area residents provided light and helped the rescuers reach the top of the mountain, where the rest of the wreckage was. The next day, the remains were transported back to Cúcuta to be identified by their family members.[citation needed]
The official cause of the crash was acontrolled flight into terrain at 6,343 feet. The investigation pointed to a number of probable causes, including a non-crewpilot in the cockpit, whose presence diverted the attention of the pilot and who interfered with the operation of the aircraft, and a lack of teamwork (crew resource management) between the pilot and co-pilot.[1]
The crash of Flight 410 was the deadliest aviation accident to occur in Colombia until December 20, 1995, whenAmerican Airlines Flight 965 crashed into a mountain nearBuga, Valle del Cauca, killing 159 people. The cause was determined to bepilot error.[4]