LAPA flight 3142

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LAPA flight 3142
Boeing 737-204C-LAPA-LV-WRZ (1998) .jpg

The Jorge Newbery Airport in Buenos Aires (1998)
Accident summary
Accident type Stall at take-off due to not activated buoyancy aids
place Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport , ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina 
date August 31, 1999
Fatalities 63
Survivors 37
Injured 37
Fatalities on the ground 2
Injured on the ground 3
Aircraft
Aircraft type United StatesUnited States Boeing 737-204C
operator ArgentinaArgentina Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas
Mark ArgentinaArgentina LV-WRZ
Departure airport Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport , ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina 
Destination airport Cordoba Airport , ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina 
Passengers 95
crew 5
Lists of aviation accidents

On August 31, 1999, a Boeing 737-204C crashed on the Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas flight 3142 (flight number also MJ3142 , callsign LAPA 3142 ) taking off from Buenos Aires-Jorge Newbery airport . The aircraft of the airline Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas , there was a stall at the start of a flight to Cordoba ; it broke through the airport fence and collided with a car and an industrial gas system, which then exploded. A total of 65 people were killed. It is the second most serious accident in Argentina after the accident with a Douglas DC-6 in 1961 on Aerolíneas Argentinas flight 644 .

plane

The machine was a Boeing 737-204C with the aircraft registration LV-WRZ and the serial number 20389. It was the 251st Boeing 737 produced. The aircraft was assembled at the Boeing Field in Seattle and made its maiden flight on April 14, 1970. The plane was delivered to Britannia Airways three days later . From February 2, 1990, the machine was licensed to the second owner TAT European Airlines and finally from December 21, 1996 to the Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas. The machine was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 engines. By the time of the accident, she had completed 67,864 flight hours and 41,851 take-offs and landings.

crew

The captain of the machine was the 45-year-old Captain Gustavo R. Weigel, and the first officer of the 31-year-old Luis Etcheverry. Weigel had 6500 hours of flight experience, including 1700 in the Boeing 737. Etcheverry had completed 600 of his 4000 hours in the 737.

the accident

The 75-minute flight to Cordoba was scheduled to depart at 8:36 p.m. local time. Before take-off, problems occurred with engine no. 1, which three mechanics dealt with. The machine finally had to line up four starting positions further back and rolled to the start at 20:55. During the take-off run, the aircraft began to tumble violently shortly after take-off, hardly gained any altitude and touched down again. It rolled over the end of the runway, broke through the airport fence and when it rolled over an expressway with its left engine, it took a car with it, the two occupants of which died immediately. The machine then collided with an industrial gas system, which then exploded.

Victim

The two pilots and a flight attendant died in the accident. 60 of the 95 passengers were killed; in addition, the two occupants of a car with which the machine had collided died. 40 people were injured, including 37 occupants of the machine and three people on the ground. Many of the injured suffered severe burns.

Aircraft accident investigation

Flight history of LAPA flight 3142

The aircraft accident investigation revealed that the aircraft had not received sufficient lift when it took off because the crew had forgotten to check the configuration of the buoyancy aids when negligently going through the checklist . Although the flaps were mentioned, the measurement of the lifting spindles showed that the first officer could not have looked at the flap configuration. This error was preceded by the unscrupulous behavior of the crew before take-off. The pilots had had private conversations with a flight attendant. The preparation of the machine for take-off was carried out very negligently, checklists were not processed according to regulations and radio communication with air traffic control was not conducted in accordance with the regulations.

When overshooting the end of the runway, the crew activated the thrust reverser to brake the machine. The flaps of the thrust reverser broke the runway lights.

The evaluation of the voice recorder finally revealed grossly negligent behavior on the part of the pilots. The recording can be heard as a high-pitched alarm tone sounds during acceleration for 41 seconds, which signals the incorrect position of the buoyancy aids. Instead of aborting take-off, however, the pilots continued take-off for the first 36 seconds, while discussing what the alarm sound might mean.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m accident report B-737-200C LV-WRZ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 26, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c Company history B-737-200C, LV-WRZ Planespotters.net (English), accessed on February 26, 2019.
  3. ↑ Junta de Investigaciones de Accidentes de la Aviación Civil (Argentina) - Informe "LAPA 3142" Wikisource, accessed February 26, 2019.
  4. ↑ Original recordings of the voice recorder ChilloutJr's CVR & ATC Audios, YouTube , accessed on February 26, 2019.

Coordinates: 34 ° 33 ′ 32 ″  S , 58 ° 24 ′ 59 ″  W.