Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046 was an Argentine scheduled domestic flight from Buenos Aires to Posadas, via Resistencia, that undershot the runway at Libertador General Jose de San Martin Airport in Posadas on June 12, 1988, in conditions of poor visibility. All 61 of the occupants of flight 046 were killed in the crash.^[2]

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046

An Austral Líneas Aéreas McDonnell Douglas MD-81, similar to the one involved in the accident.
Accident
Date	June 12, 1988
Summary	Crashed on approach due to pilot error and poor visibility
Site	Near Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, Posadas, Argentina
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-81
Operator	Austral Líneas Aéreas
IATA flight No.	AU046
Registration	N1003G
Flight origin	Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires
Stopover	Resistencia International Airport
Destination	Posadas Libertador General José de San Martín Airport
Passengers	55[1]
Crew	6
Fatalities	61[1]
Survivors	0

Accident sequence

Flight 046, operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, departed Buenos Aires' Aeroparque Jorge Newbery to Resistencia at 7:04 local time, and departed from Resistencia to Posadas at 8:40 after a 20-minute stopover. At 9:09, the crew of Flight 046 made radio contact with Posadas air traffic control, and 7 minutes later, the flight was cleared for an approach to Runway 01. The weather at the time was very poor, with extremely dense fog reducing visibility to just 100 meters. Shortly after making contact with controllers at Posados Airport, the aircraft struck the top of a eucalyptus tree, flipped on its side and crashed 3 kilometers (1.9 mi; 1.6 nmi) short of the runway. All on board perished and the aircraft was destroyed on impact. ^[3]

Investigation

The investigation into the disaster, led by the Junta de Investigación de Accidentes de Aviación Civil (JIAAC) concluded that the main factor in the crash was that the crew attempted to land below the indicated minimum weather conditions for the instrument approach. The crash had severely damaged both the Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorders, as the post crash fire rendered large portions of both recordings unusable. Small sections of the recordings were salvaged and analysed thoroughly by the Argentinian investigators. Analysis of the recovered cockpit voice recording revealed the first officers hesitation to land in extremely dense fog, as well as his dismay when realising the aircraft had descended below the lowest safe altitude permitted for the approach.^[4]

The JIAAC made recommendations to the National Transportation Safety Board and McDonnell Douglas to improve the insulation of both recorders, and to strengthen the wiring that connects the cockpit area microphone to the actual cockpit voice recorder located in the empennage. ^[3][1]

References

1. "Informe Final de Investigación de Accidente de Aviación Civil" [Final Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Report] (PDF) (in Spanish). Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
2. "Accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-81 (MD-81) N1003G, Sunday 12 June 1988". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft Accident McDonnell Douglas MD-81 N1003G". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
4. "INFORME FINAL INVESTIGACION DE ACCIDENTES DE AVIACIÓN" (PDF). Wayback Machine. Junta de Investigación de Accidentes de Aviación Civil. Retrieved 19 November 2024.

External links

• Final Report (Archive)