Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216

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Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216
F-GTDI, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date21 December 1999
SummaryRunway overrun
SiteLa Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Total fatalities18 (2 on ground)
Total injuries57 (20 on ground)
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
OperatorCubana de Aviación
IATA flight No.CU1216
Call signCUBANA 216
RegistrationF-GTDI
Flight originJosé Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba
DestinationLa Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Passengers296
Crew18
Fatalities16
Injuries37
Survivors263
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities2
Ground injuries20

Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 that overran the runway at La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, on 21 December 1999. 8 passengers and 8 crew members on board were killed as well as 2 people on the ground.[1]

Aircraft and crew[edit]

The aircraft involved in the accident in 1993 while still in service with Air Afrique

The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, registration F-GTDI, leased by Cubana de Aviación from AOM French Airlines. It was just under 27 years old and had flown 85,760 hours at the time of the accident.[2][3][4] It had been previously owned by Air Afrique with registration TU-TAL and was involved in the hijacking of Air Afrique Flight 056.[5]

The captain was 54-year-old Jorge Toledo, who had been a DC-10 captain since 1993 and was flying for Cubana de Aviación since 1972. He had 16,117 flight hours, including 4,872 hours on the DC-10. The first officer was 41-year-old Cecelio Hernandez, who had been a DC-10 first officer since 1993 and was flying for Cubana de Aviación since 1978. He had previously been a captain of the Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft. Hernandez had 8,115 flight hours, with 4,156 of them on the DC-10. The 59-year-old flight engineer Moises Borges was the most experienced member of the crew; had been a DC-10 flight engineer since 1992 and was flying for Cubana de Aviación since 1966. and logging 22,819 flight hours, including 4,939 on the DC-10.[1]: 5–8 [6]

Accident[edit]

Flight 1216 was a special charter transporting Guatemalan students home from universities in Cuba.[7] The aircraft took off from José Martí International Airport in Cuba with 286 passengers and 18 crew on board.[2] After a two-hour flight the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 19 at La Aurora International Airport. On landing the pilots were unable to stop the aircraft and it ran off the end of the runway and down a slope, crashing into ten houses. The accident killed 18 people in all: 8 passengers and 8 crew members on board the aircraft, and 2 occupants of the houses.[1] There were 288 passengers and 10 crew who survived; however 37 passengers and crew and another 20 people on the ground were injured in the accident.[1] The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.[2]

The crash occurred in the La Libertad neighborhood. One cockpit flight crew member was among the dead. Also among the dead was stewardess Johanna Toledo, who was the captain's daughter.[7][8]

Cause[edit]

The accident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Section (Spanish: Sección de Investigación de Accidentes) of Guatemala's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Spanish: Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil). The investigation found that the aircraft touched down too far along the wet runway with insufficient deceleration, and that the crew had failed to initiate a go-around. The spoilers was found in the down and locked position, while the flight data recorder (FDR) showed them deployed. The handle for the spoilers in the cockpit was found in an undefined position. The reason for this discrepancy was not determined by the accident investigation.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "INFORME FINAL ACCIDENTE AEROPUERTO LA AURORA, PISTA 19 CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA" [FINAL ACCIDENT REPORT LA AURORA AIRPORT, RUNWAY 19 GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA] (PDF) (in Spanish). General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2012 – via Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety.
  2. ^ a b c Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 F-GTDI Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport (GUA)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  3. ^ "F-GTDI AOM French Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ "AOM French Airlines F-GTDI (McDonnell Douglas DC-10 - MSN 46890) (Ex TU-TAL)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 TU-TAL Genève-Cointrin Airport (GVA)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Pilot error blamed for plane crash". BBC News. 22 December 1999. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Pilot error suspected in Guatemala crash". CNN. Reuters. 22 December 1999. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  8. ^ Villelabeitia, Ibon (23 December 1999). "Pilot Error Suspected In Cuban Crash". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

External links[edit]

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