Country
code

Darién

Crash of a Britten-Norman BN-2A-6R Islander in Bahia Piña

Date & Time: Jan 3, 2008 at 1125 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
SAN-208
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
256
YOM:
1971
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a flight to Bahia Piña Airport on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development to pickup a woman and her child. Approaching the destination, the crew encountered engine problems when the aircraft crashed near Punta Caracoles. Both pilots were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Crash of a Boeing 737-204 near Tucutí: 47 killed

Date & Time: Jun 6, 1992 at 2100 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HP-1205CMP
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Miami – Panama City – Cali
MSN:
22059
YOM:
1979
Flight number:
CM201
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
40
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
47
Aircraft flight hours:
45946
Aircraft flight cycles:
17845
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Panama City-Tocumen Airport runway 21L at 2036LT bound for Cali, Colombia. While cruising at FL250, the crew was informed about poor weather conditions 30-50 miles ahead. Shortly later, there was an intermittent failure of the main attitude indicator due to a short circuit. This was not noticed by the flight crew, who attempted to adjust the aircraft attitude based on the false information from the attitude indicator. They lost control of the aircraft which entered a steep descent and started to disintegrate at FL100, and impacting the ground 80° nose down. The wreckage was found in the jungle about 13 km southwest of Tucití. All 47 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The following findings were reported:
- Loss of control of the aircraft because the flight crew followed false information from an attitude indicator that operated intermittently.
- Lack of visible horizon during cruise flight due to night and approaching bad weather.
- Insufficient cross-checking between the primary and emergency (standby) attitude indicators to identify intermittent attitude errors and to select a reliable source of (correct) attitude information.
- Non-standard cabin configurations between aircraft in the fleet of the company, which required the crew to determine how to set the switches based on the aircraft was being operated at the time.
- Incomplete ground crew training simulator, as it did not present 'differences between aircraft' and 'crew resource management' in sufficient detail to give the crew knowledge to overcome intermittent attitude indicator errors and to maintain control of the aircraft.

Crash of a Britten-Norman BN-2A-3 Islander in Yaviza: 7 killed

Date & Time: Dec 13, 1985
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HP-680
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
MSN:
328
YOM:
1973
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
En route, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain and crashed near Yaviza. All seven occupants were killed.

Crash of a Britten Norman BN-2A Islander in the Serranía de Majé: 10 killed

Date & Time: Jul 11, 1973
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HP-570
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
MSN:
266
YOM:
1971
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
10
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances in the Serranía de Majé mountain range, region of Darién. All 10 occupants were killed.

Crash of a Consolidated A-10B Catalina off Jaqué: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 17, 1949
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
45-57840
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The seaplane left Albrook AFB in Panama City that day on a maritime patrol mission. Cruising along the Panamanian coast, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances few dozen km off Jaqué. All seven crew members were killed.

Crash of a Keystone B-6A in Jaqué

Date & Time: May 20, 1938
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
32-154
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed on landing for unknown reasons. There were no casualties.