TAME flight 120
| TAME flight 120 | |
|---|---|
_on_finals_at_Fort_Lauderdale.jpg) The affected machine in 1998 at Fort Lauderdale International Airport |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Controlled flight into terrain |
| place | Cumbal volcano , Colombia
|
| date | January 28, 2002 |
| Fatalities | 94 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Boeing 727-134
|
| operator |
 TAME
|
| Mark |
HC-BLF
|
| Departure airport |
Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre (1960) , Quito , Ecuador
|
| Stopover |
Tulcan Airport , Ecuador
|
| Destination airport |
Cali Airport , Colombia
|
| Passengers | 87 |
| crew | 7th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
TAME flight 120 was an international TAME flight from Quito via Tulcán to Cali . On January 28, 2002, on the first leg of this flight, a serious aircraft accident occurred when a Boeing 727-134 went off course, crossed the border into Colombia and was flown against the Cumbal volcano , killing all 94 people on board the plane .
machine
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 727-134, which was 34 years and 3 months old at the time of the accident. The machine was the work of Boeing on the Boeing Field in the state of Washington assembled and completed on November 20, 1967 its first flight before re-December 2, 1967 to the Transair Sweden was delivered, in which they, the air vehicle registration SE-DDB received. The aircraft had the factory number 19692, it was the 498th Boeing 727 from ongoing production. From July to September 1981 the machine was leased to Air Madeira . This was followed by a sale to Philippine Airlines on October 9, 1981 , when the machine was given the new registration number RP-C1241 . The TAME received the machine in July 1984 and registered it with the new registration number HC-BLF . In this context, the machine was given the name El Oro . The three-beam narrow-body aircraft was with three Turbojettriebwerken type Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A equipped. By the time of the accident, the machine had completed a total of 64,001 operating hours, which accounted for 49,819 take-offs and landings.
Passengers and crew
87 passengers had started the flight section from Tulcán to Cali . On board was a seven-person crew, which was divided into a three-person cockpit crew and a four-person cabin crew. The cockpit crew consisted of a flight captain, a first officer and a flight engineer, the cabin crew included four flight attendants.
- The flight captain was the 59-year-old Ecuadorian Jorge Efrain Noe, who had 12,091 hours of flight experience, 8,263 hours of which he had completed in the cockpit of the Boeing 727. Of this, he had flown 5,526 hours in the function of the flight captain, 2,650 hours in the function of the first officer and the remaining hours as a pilot in training. Noe had type ratings for the aircraft types Beechcraft King Air A90 , Cessna 150 , Cessna 172 and Boeing 727-100 and Boeing 727-200 .
- First officer was the 52-year-old Ecuadorian Carlos Alfonso Lopez, who was also a qualified flight captain and had 7,058 hours of flight experience, of which he had completed 3,457 hours. Of these, he had flown 679 hours in the role of pilot, 2,773 hours in the role of first officer and five hours as a pilot in training. Lopez had type ratings for the aircraft types Cessna 150, Cessna 337 Super Skymaster , Piper PA-31 , de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter as well as Boeing 727-100 and Boeing 727-200.
- The flight engineer was the 50-year-old Ecuadorian Jorge Anibal Burgos Villamar. He flew in Boeing 727-100 and Boeing 727-200 aircraft and had 4,200 hours of flight experience, 3,000 of which he had completed in the cockpit of the Boeing 727.
Flight history
The Boeing 727-100 took off from runway 17 of Quito Airport at 10:03 a.m. local time. After take-off, the aircraft rose to a cruising altitude of 18,000 feet (approx. 5,500 meters) and the flight was then continued in a north-northeast direction. The first flight segment to Tulcán was short, the pilots made contact with air traffic control in Tulcán at 10:15 a.m. At the time, the machine was 47 kilometers from the Tulcán undirected radio beacon . Approach control approved the descent to 14,000 feet (approx. 4,300 meters) and the approach to runway 23. The approach procedure provided for a flight over the airport with a flight course of 085 degrees. The machine should then turn left after 1.5 minutes and take a course of 233 degrees and fly it at a speed of 180 knots (approx. 330 km / h). Meanwhile, a descent to 11,500 feet (approx. 3,500 meters) should be performed for the final approach to Tulcán. The height of the runway is 9,979 feet (approximately 2,950 meters). There are numerous ridges and peaks near the airport, which is high in the Andes . The Cumbal Volcano, which rises to an altitude of 4,763 meters, is 30 kilometers west of the airport.
the accident
The machine started the approach from the southwest and flew a little west past the non-directional radio beacon instead of flying over it directly. The captain started the turn correctly but was flying too fast. The machine flew at 230 knots (approx. 430 km / h) instead of the required 180 knots. As a result, the curve was flown further than intended. At the time the machine was heading west, it was not heading for the runway, but for the Cumbal volcano. At 10:23 a.m. local time, the machine flew into the flank of the volcano. The machine crashed 430 meters below the top of the volcano, killing all 94 people on board the machine. At the time of the accident, visibility was very poor and the wreck of the machine was only found after a day.
root cause
As part of the aircraft accident investigation, several factors were identified as causing the accident. Initially, objections were made to the pilot's decision to initiate and continue the approach to Tulcán Airport even though the minimum meteorological conditions set out in the company's standard procedures were not met. The pilot in charge also complained about poor navigation and poor operation of the machine. It was highlighted here that the loop around the airport was flying at a speed of 230 knots and a roll angle of 15 degrees instead of a speed of 180 knots and a recommended roll angle of 25 to 30 degrees. As a result, the safe approach route, in which all obstacles would be flown around, had been abandoned.
swell
- Accident report 727-134, HC-BLF in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- OFICINA DE CONTROL Y SEGURIDAD AÉREA DIVISIÓN NORMAS DE VUELO INVESTIGACIÓN DE ACCIDENTES AÉREOS INFORME FINAL ACCIDENTE DE AVIACIÓN TAME HC-BLF BOEING 727-100 VOLCAN NEVADO EL CUMBAL NARINO COLOMBO DEIA de EN Aeria 2002 , Colombia Civil (Spanish)
- Website about the accident (Spanish)
- Operating history of the machine on rzjets.net (English)
Coordinates: 0 ° 56 '56.4 " N , 77 ° 53' 16.8" W.