Dominicana de Aviación | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

Twenty minutes after takeoff from San Juan-Luis Muñoz Marin Airport, while in cruising altitude, a steward noticed smoke in the lavatory and informed the crew accordingly. In the meantime, the crew noticed a fire alarm in the cockpit, declared an emergency and became number one for landing at Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport. Following a normal approach and landing, the crew vacated the runway and parked the aircraft at gate A6. While the passengers was disemmarking, smoke spread in the cabin and fire erupted, destroying the airplane.

Probable cause:

It was determined that a fire broke out in the rear lavatory after an engine used to drain the toilet overheated.

Crash of a Douglas DC-9-32 off Santo Domingo: 102 killed

Date & Time: Feb 15, 1970 at 1830 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-9

Operator:

Registration:

HI-177

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Santo Domingo - San Juan

MSN:

47500/546

YOM:

1969

Flight number:

DO603

Location:

Santo Domingo-Las Américas

Santo Domingo

Country:

Dominican Republic

Region:

Central America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

102

Circumstances:

Two minutes after takeoff from runway 16 at Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport, while in initial climb, the pilot informed ATC that the right engine failed and was cleared to return for an emergency landing. Shortly later, the left engine failed as well. Out of control, the airplane entered a dive and crashed into the Caribbean Sea about three km offshore. Few debris were floating on water and others sank by a depth of 300 meters. All 102 occupants were killed among them the Dominican boxer Carlos Teo Cruz, world lightweight champion as well as a large part of the Puerto Rico's National Women's Volleyball Team.

Probable cause:

Brand new, the aircraft was delivered by Douglas Corp to Dominicana de Aviación last 16 of December 1969. Only few debris were recovered and unfortunately, both CVR & FDR were not found. Due to lack of evidences, the exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, it is believed that the double engine failure may have been caused by the contamination of fuel by an important quantity of water.

Crash of a Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair in Miami: 10 killed

Date & Time: Jun 23, 1969 at 1542 LT

Type of aircraft:

Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair

Operator:

Registration:

HI-168

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

City

Schedule:

Miami - Santo Domingo

MSN:

16/10485

YOM:

1944

Flight number:

DO401

Location:

Miami-Intl

Florida

Country:

United States of America

Region:

North America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

13736

Captain / Total hours on type:

500.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

2333

Copilot / Total hours on type:

476

Aircraft flight hours:

41722

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from 12 at Miami-Intl Airport, while climbing to a height of 300 feet, the crew reported engine problems and elected to return. He was cleared for an emergency landing on runway 27 and initiated a circuit when control was lost. The airplane stalled and crashed in a huge explosion onto several buildings located about a mile short of runway 27. Few buildings and cars were destroyed. All four occupants on board the Carvair were killed as well as six people on the ground. 12 other people were injured, some of them seriously. It was later reported that white smoke was coming from the engine number two and black fumes from the engine number four.

Probable cause:

The confused action on the part of the crew while attempting to cope with the catastrophic failure of an engine during takeoff.

Final Report:

Crash of a Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando in Ciudad Trujillo: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jul 17, 1958 at 0616 LT

Type of aircraft:

Curtiss C-46 Commando

Operator:

Registration:

HI-16

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Ciudad Trujillo – Miami

MSN:

442

YOM:

1945

Flight number:

DO402

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Flight 402 departed Ciudad Trujillo on a cargo flight to Miami, Florida, with a crew of 2 aboard and no passengers. Following take-off from Runway 23 and at a height of approximately 150 ft the aircraft fell to the left of the runway, some 300 ft from the centre line and 200 to 300 ft short of the runway end. Both crew members were killed by the impact which occurred at approximately 1016 hours GMT. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.

Probable cause:

The accident was originally caused by a mechanical defect in the port engine. The immediate cause may have been that the crew, encountering difficulties, applied an abnormal procedure, apparently attempting an emergency wheels up landing and immediately thereafter trying to resume normal flight by applying full power to both engines, as there was no sign that either propeller had been feathered. It is likely that propeller overspeed or excessive decrease in pitch, or difficulties in the attempt to reoperate the defective engine, combined with critical speed at the height reached on take-off, created abnormal flight characteristics which caused the aircraft to stall and crash.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL near Yamasá: 32 killed

Date & Time: Jan 11, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

HI-6

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Santa Cruz de Barahona – Santiago de los Caballeros

MSN:

4735

YOM:

1942

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Few minutes after its departure from Santa Cruz de Barahona Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and decided to modify his route, diverting to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital city. While cruising about 20 km north of Ciudad Trujillo in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed near Yamasá. All 32 occupants were killed, among them members of the baseball team of Santiago returning home.

Probable cause:

Navigational error on part of the crew resulted in a control flight into terrain. Low visibility caused by poor weather conditions was considered as a contributory factor.