TANS-Peru flight 204

TANS-Peru flight 204
The plane, taken 20 days before the accident
Accident summary
Accident type	controlled flight into terrain
place	about 5.5 km south of Pucallpa airport
date	August 23, 2005
Fatalities	40
Survivors	58
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-244
operator	TANS Perú
Mark	OB-1809-P
Departure airport	Lima Airport , Peru
Stopover	Pucallpa Airport , Peru
Destination airport	Iquitos Airport , Peru
Passengers	91
crew	7th
Lists of aviation accidents

On August 23, 2005, a Boeing 737-200 crashed on TANS-Peru flight 204 shortly before the stopover at the Peruvian airport Pucallpa . 40 of the 98 occupants were killed in the accident.

Flight history

The Boeing 737 of TANS Perú was on a domestic flight from Lima to Iquitos , with a scheduled stopover in Pucallpa . On the first leg of the flight, a pilot in training had assumed the role of first officer while the regular co-pilot was in the passenger cabin.

At 2:52 p.m., the crew began the descent to Pucallpa Airport, which at the time was surrounded by thunderclouds that caused strong winds and precipitation. The storm front was captured by the aircraft's weather radar from a distance of approximately 300 km (190 miles ) . Despite the bad weather conditions at the destination airport, the pilots continued the visual approach to runway 02 in Pucallpa. The machine flew south of the runway into a turbulent zone with very strong hailstorms , which suddenly reduced visibility to zero. The approach then became increasingly unstable. At the same time, the rate of descent increased to over 1500 feet per minute due to the impact of falling gusts . The Ground Proximity Warning System warned the pilots of the excessive rate of descent through alarm messages, but they did not initiate any go - around maneuvers . The aircraft hit a swampy terrain about 5.5 km from the runway threshold . The fuselage broke in half in front of the wing root at the level of the seventh row of seats. Of the 98 occupants, 58 survived, almost all of whom had been sitting in the rear of the cabin.

Cause of accident

The investigation into the accident turned out to be difficult at first because the wreck had been looted and the flight data recorder stolen. Only after the airline paid a reward was the device returned. The recordings of the voice recorder and the flight data recorder did not reveal any evidence of damage to the aircraft or any flight-related system prior to impact. A technical cause of the accident was excluded. The commission of inquiry classified the accident as “ controlled flight into terrain ”.

The investigators criticized the crew's decision to continue the flight to Pucallpa and not to fly to an alternative location, although the storm front was shown on the weather radar at an early stage. Even after entering the thunderstorm, the pilots did not abort the approach, despite the lack of ground visibility. The captain had previously taken over control of the aircraft, so that the inexperienced co-pilot was now responsible for monitoring the instruments as " pilot not flying ". However, he did not give any information on altitude or rate of descent. The master also failed to request this information. The inadequate crew resource management meant that the pilots maintained the steep descent and the machine flew into the ground.

media

The accident is the subject of the 12th season of the Canadian documentary series " Mayday - Alarm in the Cockpit " in the episode "Blind through the hailstorm" (original title: "Blind Landing").

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Aviation Safety Network, Boeing 737-244 OB-1809-P accident summary , accessed February 8, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} CIAA, official accident report (in Spanish), accessed February 8, 2019.
3. ↑ Data recorder from Peru plane crash found. (No longer available online.) In: ChinaDaily. August 31, 2005, archived from the original on June 27, 2014 ; accessed on October 4, 2019 . 

Coordinates: 8 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  S , 74 ° 35 ′ 45 ″  W.