Aerocon Flight 238

The aircraft had taken off from El Trompillo Airport, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, for its hour-long, 380 kilometres (210 nmi) flight to Trinidad.

At about 19:00 local time (23:00 UTC) the aircraft was reported to be 19 kilometres (10 nmi) north of its destination when contact was lost. A search by the Bolivian Air Force was initiated. At around 12:30 local time on 8 September, the wreckage of the aircraft was spotted at a location 29 kilometres (16 nmi) north east of Trinidad Airport. Initial reports stated that there were no survivors.[1]

Helicopters reached the crash site at 16:40 local time and it was discovered that eight of the nine people on board the aircraft had been killed in the crash. The survivor was discovered at around 09:00 local time on 9 September, having walked away from the wreckage in search of help. He sustained a head wound and severe bruising but did not have any broken bones. He was airlifted to a hospital.[2]

A minute's silence was held in the Senate of Bolivia in memory of those who were killed.[3]

The aircraft involved was Fairchild SA227-BC Metro III, registration CP-2548, c/n BC-768B. The aircraft had first flown in 1992 and had served with several airlines before its sale to Aerocon in January 2009.[4]

Bolivia's Directorate General of Civil Aviation opened an investigation into the accident. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered from the wreckage and sent to Brazil for analysis.[2]

It was reported that a required VOR radio beacon had been out of service since 20 August and that the crew was attempting a non-precision approach at the time of the accident.[2]