Zone

Crash of a Boeing 757-23A off Lima: 70 killed

Date & Time: Oct 2, 1996 at 0111 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N52AW
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Miami - Lima - Santiago
MSN:
25489
YOM:
1992
Flight number:
PL601
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
61
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
70
Captain / Total flying hours:
21955
Captain / Total hours on type:
1520.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
7954
Copilot / Total hours on type:
719
Aircraft flight hours:
10654
Aircraft flight cycles:
2673
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Lima-Jorge Chávez Airport at 0042LT on an international regular service to Santiago de Chile, carrying 61 passengers and a crew of nine. When they took off and reached speed V2 + 10, the crew noticed that the altimeters were not responding and that something irregular was occurring. They therefore decided to notify the control tower in Lima to declare an emergency, consulted Lima for confirmation of their altitude by radar, and requested assistance to return via radar vectors. After 29 minutes of flight, while returning to Lima airport and with the crew attempting to control the aircraft, it impacted with the sea 48 nautical miles from the airport, with the total loss of the aircraft and all of its occupants.
Probable cause:
The following findings were reported:
- It can be deduced from the investigation carried out that the maintenance staff did not remove the protective adhesive tape from the static ports. This tape was not detected during the various phases of the aircraft's release to the line mechanic, its transfer to the passenger boarding apron and, lastly, the inspection by the crew responsible for the flight (the walk-around or pre-flight check), which was carried out by the pilot-in-command, according to the mechanic responsible for the aircraft on the day of the accident.
- The pilot-in-command made a personal error by not complying with the procedure for GPWS alarms and not noticing the readings of the radio altimeters in order to discard everything which he believed to be fictitious.
- The copilot made a personal error by not being more insistent, assertive and convincing in alerting the pilot-in-command much more emphatically to the ground proximity alarms.
Final Report:

Crash of a Yakovlev Yak-40 in Saposoa: 8 killed

Date & Time: Nov 5, 1994
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
OB-1569
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Trujillo – Saposoa – Juanjui – Tocache – Lima
MSN:
9 14 10 20
YOM:
1971
Country:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
26
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
On final approach to Saposoa Airport, the crew realized that someone was walking on the runway. Instead of initiating a go-around procedure, the crew decided to landed long. After touchdown, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in the Saposoa River. A pilot and seven passengers were killed while 23 other occupants were injured.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the crew who landed too far down the runway, reducing the landing distance available.

Crash of a Cessna 208 Caravan I on Mt Huacranacro: 9 killed

Date & Time: May 20, 1989
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PNP-021
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Tingo Maria - Lima
MSN:
208-0145
YOM:
1989
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
While flying in clouds, the single engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Huacranacro located about 100 km east of Huaral. The wreckage was found few hours later and all nine occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Fokker F27 Troopship 400M off Lima: 42 killed

Date & Time: Dec 8, 1987 at 2015 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
AE-560
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Pucallpa - Lima
MSN:
10548
YOM:
1977
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
37
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
42
Aircraft flight hours:
5908
Aircraft flight cycles:
4411
Circumstances:
The aircraft, operated by the Peruvian Navy, crashed at sea off the coast of Lima, Peru. On board the aircraft were 16 football players of the Alianza Lima football team, staff, cheerleaders and referees. Alianza Lima had played a match against Deportivo Pucallpa and was returning to Lima in the evening. The aircraft departed Pucallpa at 18:30 hours. During the approach to Lima, the flight crew noticed an indication that the nose landing gear would not lock down. A low flyby was flown to let the air traffic control tower check the gear. The gear seemed OK and the flight repositioned for another approach. In darkness, at about 20:15 hours, the aircraft impacted the water. Initially three occupants survived the impact, but only the pilot was rescued alive the following morning. An investigation showed that the flight crew members were not accustomed to flying at night. The captain, the only survivor of the accident, recorded only 5.3 night-flight hours in the last 90 days before the accident, 3.3 hours in the last 60 days; and none in the last 30 days. The co-pilot had 90 minutes of night-flight experience two months before the crash. Also, because of the limited proficiency in English, the co-pilot carried out the wrong emergency procedure after being instructed by the captain to carry out a procedure to take care of the landing gear indication. Additionally, the aircraft was dispatched with several technical issues. The airplane did not have an inertial navigation system (INS); UHF communication had low reception; the very high frequency omnidirectional range (VOR) receiver had low sensitivity; the radio altimeter oscillated preventing the pilots from seeing the exact altitude; and finally, the actuator for the front landing gear had worn down.

Crash of an Antonov AN-26 near Saposoa: 46 killed

Date & Time: Jun 18, 1987 at 1000 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
FAP392
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Lima – Saposoa – Iquitos
MSN:
58 05
YOM:
1977
Country:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
40
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
46
Circumstances:
On approach to Saposoa, the crew encountered poor weather and limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. Too low, the aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located near Jerache River, about 40 km southeast of the airport. All 46 occupants were killed.

Crash of a Rockwell Grand Commander 690 near Yauyos: 5 killed

Date & Time: Feb 14, 1979
Operator:
Registration:
OB-M-1031
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Cuzco - Lima
MSN:
690-11008
YOM:
1972
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
En route from Cuzco to Lima, the twin engine airplane struck the slope of Mt Valla Punta located near Yauyos, about 130 km southeast of Lima. All five occupants were killed.