Birgenair Flight 301
Aviation accident in 1996 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Birgenair Flight 301 was a flight chartered by Turkish-managed Birgenair partner Alas Nacionales from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic to Frankfurt, Germany, via Gander, Canada, and Berlin, Germany. On 6 February 1996, the Boeing 757-200 operating the route crashed shortly after take-off from Puerto Plata's Gregorio Luperón International Airport.[1][2] All 189 people on board died.[3] The cause was pilot error after receiving incorrect airspeed information from one of the pitot tubes, which investigators believe was blocked by a wasp nest built inside it. The aircraft had been sitting unused for 20 days, and without pitot tube covers in place for the preceding two days before the crash.
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 6 February 1996 |
Summary | Stalled and crashed into the ocean |
Site | 26 km (16 mi; 14 nmi) NE of Gregorio Luperón International Airport Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 19°54′50″N 70°24′20″W |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 757-225 |
Operator | Birgenair |
ICAO flight No. | ALW301 |
Call sign | ALPHA LIMA WHISKY 301 |
Registration | TC-GEN |
Flight origin | Gregorio Luperón International Airport Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic |
1st stopover | Gander International Airport Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
2nd stopover | Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin, Germany |
Destination | Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt, Germany |
Occupants | 189 |
Passengers | 176 |
Crew | 13 |
Fatalities | 189 |
Survivors | 0 |
Flight 301 is the joint-deadliest aviation incident involving a Boeing 757 (along with American Airlines Flight 77) having a total of 189 fatalities. Furthermore, Flight 301 is the deadliest aviation accident ever to have occurred in the Dominican Republic.[4]