Dominicana DC-9 air disaster

The Dominicana DC-9 air disaster, also known as the Dominicana de Aviación Santo Domingo DC-9 air disaster, was an international flight (the flight number is unknown) that suffered a fatal accident on February 15, 1970. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 crashed shortly after takeoff from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crash killed all 102 passengers and crew on board.[1] It is the second-deadliest aviation accident to occur in the Dominican Republic, behind Birgenair Flight 301.

Dominicana DC-9 air disaster
A DC-9-32 operated by AeroRepublica, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
DateFebruary 15, 1970 (1970-02-15)
SummaryEngine failure followed by loss of control
SiteCaribbean Sea near
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
OperatorDominicana de Aviación
RegistrationHI-177
Flight originLas Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo
DestinationIsla Verde International Airport, San Juan
Passengers97
Crew5
Fatalities102
Survivors0

Aircraft

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered HI-177 (with serial number 47500 and serial 546), was built by McDonnell Douglas the previous year. It had its maiden flight on September 30, 1969. The aircraft was registered HI-177 and transferred to Dominicana on December 16 the same year.[2] The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 turbofan engines.[1] It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month (with only 354 flying hours) when it crashed.[3][4]

Accident

The jetliner was on an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It took off at about 6:30 PM. Two minutes after departure one of its engines lost power. The crew declared an emergency, telling air traffic controllers that the right engine had flamed out, and they requested to immediately return to the airport. While preparing to turn back toward the airport, the left engine also flamed out. The aircraft then descended until it hit the sea about two miles south of the airport. There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board.[1][4][5]

Notable victims

Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:

Investigation

There were initially concerns of a terrorist attack as the family of Antonio Imbert Barrera was onboard. However, the investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was the sequential failure of both engines caused by fuel pollution due to water ingress.[4]

Aftermath

This was not Dominicana's first fatal accident. Eight months before, on June 23, 1969 in Miami, Florida, Dominicana Flight 401 crashed after take-off also due to an engine failure. The Aviation Traders Carvair lost control and crashed into buildings, killing all four people on board as well as six people on the ground.[7]

Immediately after the Santo Domingo crash, Dominicana suspended all operations. Four of the airline's mechanics were reportedly arrested as well.[3] In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from the Spanish airline Iberia.[3][8]

Dominicana eventually resumed full services, including to the United States. The airline flew until 1995 when it suspended services indefinitely, finally officially ceasing all operations during 1999.

See also

References
  1. Ranter, Harro; Gero, D. (2005-05-21). "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 HI-177 Santo Domingo". aviation-safety.net. Flight Safety Foundation, which owns the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  2. "HI-177 Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 - cn 47500 / ln 546". planespotters.net. Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  3. "FAA Suspends Dominicana", Flight International, 19 March 1970, p.421 (online archive version) retrieved 16 November 2012
  4. "Una tragedia aérea que aún duele" [An aerial tragedy that still hurts] (in Spanish). El Nuevo Dia. 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  5. VALDEZ, ANTONIO (2013-02-15). "Se cumplen este viernes 43 años del accidente de Dominicana de Aviación" [43 years of the Dominican Aviation accident are fulfilled this Friday] (in Spanish). Periódico Digital Dominicano. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  6. "The Windsor Star - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  7. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair HI-168 Miami International Airport, FL (MIA)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  8. "Dominicana to Resume", Flight International, 16 April 1970, p.615 (online archive version) retrieved 16 November 2012

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