SAM Colombia Flight 501
| SAM Colombia Flight 501 | |
|---|---|
 An identical Boeing 727 from SAM Colombia |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Controlled flight into terrain due to lack of radio beacon availability |
| place | Mount Paramo Frontino, near Medellin , Colombia
|
| date | May 19, 1993 |
| Fatalities | 132 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Boeing 727-46
|
| operator |
SAM Colombia
|
| Mark |
HK-2422X
|
| Departure airport |
Panama-Tocumen Airport , Panama
|
| Stopover |
Medellín-Rionegro Airport , Colombia
|
| Destination airport |
Bogotá Eldorado Airport , Colombia
|
| Passengers | 125 |
| crew | 7th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The SAM Colombia flight 501 (flight number: MM501 ) was a flight of the Colombian airline SAM Colombia (Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín) from Panama City to Bogotá with a stopover in Medellín . On May 19, 1993, a Boeing 727-46 had an accident on this flight after the pilots hit a mountain. All 132 people on board were killed.
plane
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 727-46 , which was 27 years and 5 months old at the time of the accident. The aircraft had the factory number 18876, it was the 217th Boeing 727 from ongoing production. The machine was the work of Boeing on the Boeing Field in the state of Washington assembled and completed on 30 December 1965 its first flight. On January 7, 1966, she was delivered to Japan Air Lines and registered with the aircraft registration JA8309 . On November 16, 1972, Korean Air took over the machine and registered it as HL7309 . From November 9, 1980 the machine belonged to the fleet of SAM Colombia, where it was initially operated as HK2422 and later received the aircraft registration HK-2422X . The three - engine narrow -body aircraft was equipped with three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7A engines.
the accident
Flight 501 was supposed to lead from Panama City to Bogotá in Colombia , with a stopover in Medellín planned. At 2:18 p.m. the aircraft took off and climbed to an altitude of 16,000 feet (approx. 4,900 meters). There were 7 crew members and 125 passengers on board, including a number of Panama dentists who were on their way to a meeting.
As a thunderstorm had gathered on the approach to Medellín, navigation using a radio compass was difficult. A radio beacon therefore sent the wrong signals. Another was not available because terrorists blew up the mast. The crew reported when they flew over the Abejorral NDB at an altitude of 16,000 feet (approx. 4900 meters) . The pilots were then given clearance to descend to 12,000 feet (approx. 3660 meters). Then the radio contact broke off. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the machine, air traffic control in Medellín declared an emergency. The machine had meanwhile flown at 12,300 feet (approx. 3700 meters) against the mountain Paramo Frontino, killing all 132 people on board.
Cause of accident
Since the radio beacon was out of order, the crew made navigation errors. Contrary to the assumptions of the pilots, the machine had not yet reached the radio beacon, so that the machine was flown prematurely into mountainous terrain.
See also
Sources and Links
- Aircraft accident Boeing 727-46 HK-2422X Medellín in the Aviation Safety Network
- Operating history of the machine
Coordinates: 3 ° 15 ′ 45.9 ″ S , 75 ° 22 ′ 23 ″ W.