Aerosucre Flight 157

Puerto Carreño

Bogotá

Map of Colombia showing the location of the crash site at Puerto Carreño airport

The Boeing 727 arrived at Puerto Carreño on the day of the accident at 14:48 local time, after a cargo flight from Bogotá. The crew unloaded 20,423 pounds of cargo. Although the weight and balance manifest of the accident flight was not found, investigators presumed that slightly less than 20,000 pounds of cargo distributed on nine pallets was loaded for the return to Bogotá. The 727 then taxied onto Runway 25 threshold; the crew set the flaps at 30 degrees, the plane was trimmed for takeoff, and the plane started its takeoff run at 17:18.

The 727 used all of the 1,800-metre (5,900 ft) runway, but was still not airborne. It traveled another 95 m (310 ft) over grass and struck a perimeter fence. It then crossed a road, hit a shed and a tree before finally becoming airborne. Due to the impact, the right main landing gear detached from the aircraft, the inboard right flap was damaged, engine 3 lost power and one hydraulic system was damaged due to leaking. The aircraft achieved an altitude of 790 ft (240 m), entered a slight right hand descending turn which completed a near 270-degree arc and then impacted flat terrain, bursting into flames.[1]

The aircraft involved photographed in 1994, while in operation with Air Jamaica under a previous registration

The aircraft involved in the crash was a Boeing 727-200 registered HK-4544 with serial number 21105. It entered service in 1975, operating as a passenger aircraft for Air Jamaica until 1997. It was then converted into a cargo aircraft.[4] The aircraft began operating for Aerosucre in 2008.[5]

The 58-year-old captain Jaime Cantillo had been with Aerosucre since 1997 and was licensed to fly the Boeing 727 in 2005. He had logged 8,708 flight hours, including 6,822 hours on the Boeing 727. The 39-year-old first officer Mauricio Guzmán had been with the airline since 2008 and had 3,285 flight hours, all of which were on the Boeing 727. The 72-year-old flight engineer Pedro Duarte joined Aerosucre in 2013 and had logged 1,612 flight hours, though his flight experience on the Boeing 727 was unknown.[6]^:12–14

The flight plan indicated five people aboard, but there was an undocumented sixth person on the flight. Four died immediately and two survived the impact, but one of the two died later from injuries.[5]

The Colombian air accident investigation authority GRIAA (Grupo de Investigación de Accidentes Aéreos) concluded that three factors extended the aircraft’s take-off run by 380 m (1,250 ft), resulting in a runway excursion that eventually lead to the crash:

• The crew incorrectly calculated a rotation speed that was 5 knots (9 km/h; 6 mph) higher than necessary.
• The chosen take-off runway was subject to a 4-knot (7 km/h; 5 mph) tail wind.
• The pilot rotated the aircraft too slowly, at about 1° per second instead of 2°~3°.

Furthermore, although initial calculations suggested the aircraft was operating within its weight limits, the investigators believe, based on the take-off speeds used by the crew, that the aircraft was actually almost a tonne above its maximum permissible take-off weight of 74.7 tonnes (74,700 kg; 165,000 lb).[1][3]

The investigation also determined that following the loss of pressure in both main hydraulic systems caused by the impact with ground structures, the crew did not activate the standby hydraulic system, which could have enabled them to maintain control of the aircraft.[1]

The operator Aerosucre was found in breach of regulations, since Puerto Carreño airport was not approved for operations with the Boeing 727-200, and such breach was allowed to continue for years due to lack of supervision by the Colombian civil aviation authority.[1][6]

• Video of the incident on YouTube
• Grupo de Investigación de Accidentes Aéreos (GRIAA)
  • Preliminary report (in Spanish)
  • Final report (in Spanish)