1970 Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 crash

1970 aviation accident in the Dominican Republic From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1970 Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 crash

On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating as Dominciana de Aviación Flight 603 enroute from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to San Juan, Puerto Rico crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff. The crash killed all 97 passengers and 5 crew on board, making it the deadliest aviation disaster to occur within the Dominican Republic until the crash of Birgenair Flight 301 in 1996, in the Caribbean Sea, leaving 189 dead.[1]

Quick Facts Accident, Date ...
Dominicana de Aviación Flight 603
HI-177, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
DateFebruary 15, 1970 (1970-02-15)
SummaryDual-engine failure due to fuel contamination
SiteCaribbean Sea, near
Las Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
18.388086°N 69.678913°W / 18.388086; -69.678913
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
OperatorDominicana de Aviación
RegistrationHI-177
Flight originLas Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
DestinationLuis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupants102
Passengers97
Crew5
Fatalities102
Survivors0
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Aircraft

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered as HI-177 (with serial number 47500 and line number 546), was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas the 1969. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 turbofan engines.[1] It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month (with only 354 flying hours) when it crashed.[2][3]

Accident

The airliner was operating an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. The flight took off at about 6:30 PM. Two minutes after departure, one of the engines lost thrust. The crew declared an emergency, telling air traffic controllers that the right engine had flamed out, and requested to immediately return to the airport. While the crew were preparing to turn back toward the airport, the left engine also flamed out. The aircraft descended until it hit the sea about two miles south of the airport. There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board.[1][3][4]

Investigation

There were initially concerns of a terrorist attack as the family of Antonio Imbert Barrera was on board. However, the investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was the sequential failure of both engines caused by fuel contamination due to water ingress.[3] Neither the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or flight data recorder (FDR) was ever found.[5]

Notable victims

Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:

Aftermath

Immediately after the Santo Domingo crash, Dominicana suspended all operations. Four of the airline's mechanics were reportedly arrested as well.[2] In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from the Spanish airline Iberia.[2][7]

Dominicana eventually resumed full services, including to the United States. The airline flew until 1995 when the government of Joaquín Balaguer forced it to suspend services indefinitely, officially ceasing all operations in 1999.[8]

See also

References

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