Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216
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. Eight passengers and eight crew members on board were killed as well as two people on the ground.
 The aircraft involved in the accident in 1993 while still in service with Air Afrique | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 December 1999 |
| Summary | Runway overrun |
| Site | La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Total fatalities | 18 (2 on ground) |
| Total injuries | 57 (20 on ground) |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-10 |
| Operator | Cubana de Aviación |
| Registration | F-GTDI |
| Flight origin | José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba |
| Destination | La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Passengers | 296 |
| Crew | 18 |
| Fatalities | 16 |
| Injuries | 37 |
| Survivors | 298 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 2 |
| Ground injuries | 20 |
Aircraft
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.[1] It had been previously owned by Air Afrique with registration TU-TAL and was involved in the hijacking of Air Afrique Flight 056.[2]
Accident
Flight 1216 was a special charter transporting Guatemalan students home from universities in Cuba.[3] The aircraft took off from José Martí International Airport in Cuba with 296 passengers and 18 crew on board.[1] 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: eight passengers and eight crew members on board the aircraft, and two occupants of the houses.[4] There were 298 passengers and crew who survived; however 37, passengers and crew and another 20 people on the ground were injured in the accident.[4] The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.
The crash occurred in the La Libertad neighborhood. Jorge Toledo, the Cuban pilot, was among the dead.[3][5]
Cause
The accident was investigated by the Sección de Investigación de Accidentes of Guatemala's 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 FDR showed them deployed. The handle for the spoilers in the cockpit was found in an undefinied position. The reason for this discrepancy wasn't determined by the accident investigation.[4]
References
- 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.
- Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 TU-TAL Genève-Cointrin Airport (GVA)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- "Pilot error suspected in Guatemala crash". CNN. Reuters. 22 December 1999. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- "Guatemalan Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil, Sección de Investigación de Accidentes official report" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 February 2012.
- Villelabeitia, Ibon (23 December 1999). "Pilot Error Suspected In Cuban Crash". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.