Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 644
| Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 644 | |
|---|---|
 A structurally identical DC-6 of the Austral Lineas Aereas |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Structural failure |
| place | 12 kilometers west of Pardo , Buenos Aires Province Argentina
|
| date | July 19, 1961 |
| Fatalities | 67 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Douglas DC-6
|
| operator |
Aerolíneas Argentinas
|
| Mark |
LV-ADW
|
| Departure airport |
Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport , Argentina
|
| Destination airport |
Comodoro Rivadavia Airport , Argentina
|
| Passengers | 60 |
| crew | 7th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
Aerolíneas Argentinas flight 644 (flight number: AR644 ) was a scheduled domestic flight of the national airline Aerolíneas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to Comodoro Rivadavia . On July 19, 1961, 67 people died on board a Douglas DC-6 on this flight after the machine was torn apart due to extreme turbulence in flight.
The accident is the worst airplane accident in Argentina.
Airplane and occupants
The machine used on Flight 644 was a Douglas DC-6, which was delivered to Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina (FAMA) on September 15, 1948 , which was later renamed Aerolíneas Argentinas , whereupon the machine was accordingly in May 1949 was re-registered. The aircraft involved in the accident was the 137th fully assembled DC-6 from ongoing production, it had the factory number 43136. The four-engine aircraft was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB16 engines. The aircraft had the aircraft registration LV-ADW . At the time of the accident, the machine had a cumulative operating performance of 20,211 operating hours.
There were 60 passengers and 7 crew members on board the DC-6.
the accident
The machine took off at 7:31 a.m. from Buenos Aires-Ezeiza for an instrument flight to Comodoro Rivadavia. During the climb to the cruising altitude of 4800 meters, the pilots flew the machine through cumulonimbus clouds . The machine got into severe turbulence. Since the machine's operating limits were exceeded, it broke up in the air and fell to the ground near Pardo in the province of Buenos Aires.
All 67 people on board the plane were killed in the impact with the ground.
Cause of accident
At first it was suspected that the machine was struck by lightning before the crash. The cause of the accident was ultimately determined to be a breakup in the air. First the right wing was broken off after the load limits for which the machine was designed had been exceeded. This was due to the fact that the aircraft was flown into an area with extremely violent turbulence.
An inadequate evaluation of the data from the weather forecasts by the captain and the airline's control center was identified as a factor that contributed to the accident. This led to an inappropriate flight altitude being chosen.
See also
swell
- Accident report DC-6 LV-ADW , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 16, 2020.
- Final report on the accident (Spanish)
- Plan Crash kills all 67 in Argentina
- Operating history LV-ADS at rzjets.net
Coordinates: 36 ° 13 ′ 58 ″ S , 59 ° 30 ′ 56 ″ W