Avianca Flight 052 was a regularly scheduled flight from
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, via
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
, Colombia, that crashed on January 25, 1990, at 21:34 (
UTC−05:00). The
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
flying this route ran out of fuel after a failed attempt to land at
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
(JFK), causing the aircraft to crash onto a hillside in the small village of
Cove Neck, New York
Cove Neck is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The population was 286 at the 2010 census.
History
Cove Neck incorporated as a village in 1927.
Cove Neck is the sit ...
, on the north shore of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. Eight of the nine crew members and 65 of the 149 passengers on board were killed. The
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
(NTSB) determined that the crash occurred due to the
flight crew
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.
Commercial aviation
Flight deck positions ...
failing to properly declare a
fuel emergency, failure to use an airline operational control dispatch system, inadequate traffic flow management by the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA), and the lack of standardized understandable terminology for pilots and controllers for minimum and emergency fuel states.
The flight left Medellín with more than enough fuel for the journey, and progressed toward JFK normally. While en route, the flight was placed in three
holding patterns. Due to poor communication between the air crew and the air traffic controllers, as well as an inadequate management of the fuel load by the pilots, the flight became critically low on fuel. This dire situation was not recognized as an emergency by the controllers because of the failure of the pilots to use the word "emergency". The flight attempted to make a landing at JFK, but bad weather, coupled with poor communication and inadequate management of the aircraft, forced it to abort and attempt a
go-around
In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unstab ...
. The flight ran out of fuel before it was able to make a second landing attempt. The airplane crashed about from JFK.
Hundreds of emergency personnel responded to the crash site and helped save victims. Many of those who survived were severely injured and required months or years to physically recover. NTSB investigators looked at various factors that contributed to the crash. The failures of the flight crew were cited as the probable cause of the crash, but the weather, air traffic controller performances, and FAA traffic management were also cited as contributing to the events that led to the accident. This conclusion was controversial, with disagreement between investigators, passengers, and
Avianca
Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...
as to who was ultimately responsible. Eventually, the
U.S. government joined with Avianca and settled to pay for the damages to the victims and their families. The crash has been portrayed in a variety of media.
Background
The Avianca Flight 052 aircraft was a
Boeing 707-321B (
registration number HK-2016).
The aircraft was manufactured in June 1967, and was purchased by Avianca from
Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
in 1977. By the time of the crash, the aircraft was 22 years old and had over 61,000 flight hours. The 707 was equipped with four
Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B engines modified with a
hush kit
A hush kit is an Aerodynamics, aerodynamic device used to help reduce the noise produced by antique aircraft jet engines. These devices are typically installed on older turbojet and low-bypass turbofan engines, as they are much louder than late ...
to reduce noise pollution.
Avianca personnel reported that they factored in a 5% fuel overburn into the performance calculations due to the hush kit, along with an additional 5% overburn due to the age of the aircraft.
Additionally, maintenance crews had noted recurring issues with the aircraft's autopilot, including the altitude hold function. These same issues were reported on the aircraft's penultimate flight, but maintenance was unable to fix the autopilot, and it was disabled as a result.
The flight was staffed by a crew of nine, including six
flight attendant
A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
s and three
flight crew
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.
Commercial aviation
Flight deck positions ...
men.
The flight crew in the cockpit consisted of 51-year-old
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Laureano Caviedes Hoyos, 28-year-old
first officer Mauricio Klotz and 45-year-old
flight engineer
A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...
Matias Moyano.
At the time of the crash, Captain Caviedes had been employed with Avianca for over 27 years and had logged over 16,000 hours of flight time, including over 1,500 in the 707.
Caviedes had 478 hours of night flying experience in the 707 (and 2,435 hours of night flying experience in total) and had no record of any prior accidents. Co-pilot Klotz had been employed with Avianca for three years and had 1,837 hours of flight time, with 408 hours at night. Klotz had transitioned to the 707 the previous October and had logged 64 flight hours in the airframe, including 13 at night.
Flight engineer Moyano had been employed with Avianca for over 23 years and had over 10,000 hours of flight time, including over 3,000 hours in the 707 and over 1,000 hours of night flying in the same airframe (and 2,986 hours of night flying regardless of airframe).
All three flight crew members had previous experience in landing at JFK.
Flight
Avianca Flight 052 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from
El Dorado International Airport
El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, Colombia and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engativá district and ...
in Bogotá, Colombia, to JFK in Queens, New York, with an intermediate stop at
José María Córdova International Airport
José María Córdova International Airport is an international airport located in the city of Rionegro, south-east of Medellín, and is the second largest airport in Colombia after El Dorado International Airport of Bogotá in terms of infra ...
near Medellín, Colombia.
Departure and flight
![HK-2016 Boeing 707-321B Avianca Colombia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/HK-2016_Boeing_707-321B_Avianca_Colombia.jpg)
Flight 052 departed Bogotá at 13:10
Eastern Standard Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
, five minutes ahead of schedule, on January 25, 1990.
The flight landed at Medellín at 14:04 and prepared to fly the leg to JFK. At Medellín, the aircraft landed with of fuel. The
flight plan
Flight plans are documents filed by a pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g. the FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned route or flight path. Flight plan format is ...
filed for the journey to JFK called for of fuel required for the trip to JFK, for reserve fuel, for alternate fuel, for holding fuel, and of taxi fuel totaling minimum of block fuel.
The dispatcher at Medellín ordered a total fuel load of , including of "top off" fuel to raise the aircraft weight to the maximum allowable for the planned departure runway. At Medellín, the captain and dispatcher decided to use another runway and requested an additional of fuel.
The flight departed Medellín at 15:08, bound for JFK.
The flight first entered U.S. airspace of
Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center
Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center (or Miami Center, ZMA) is one of 22 United States air route traffic control centers (ARTCs), or area control centers, located at 7500 N.W. 58th st, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Miami postal address).
Center
Th ...
at 17:28, flying at , and proceeded northward, climbing to . The flight was cleared to fly Atlantic route 7 to the DIXON navigational aid and jet airway 174 to
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
. Flight 052 entered its first
holding pattern
In aviation, holding (or flying a hold) is a maneuver designed to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace.
Implementation
A holding pattern for instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft is usually a racet ...
over Norfolk at 19:04 and remained circling until 19:23. From there, Flight 052 continued on to the BOTON intersection near
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. , where it was placed in a second holding pattern from 19:43 to 20:12. The flight proceeded to the CAMRN intersection where it entered its third holding pattern from 20:18 to 20:47.
Flight 052 entered the CAMRN holding pattern at , having been cleared to descend prior to arrival at the intersection, and the flight descended further to while in the CAMRN holding pattern. At 20:44:09, while still holding at CAMRN, the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZNY) advised Flight 052 that there was an "indefinite hold" and to continue holding at CAMRN.
At 20:44:43, the ZNY controller told the flight to "expect further clearance" at 21:05.
The flight had previously been given two delay estimates that had passed.
At that point, First Officer Klotz radioed the controller, saying, "ah well I think we need priority we're passing
nintelligible"
The controller inquired as to how long the flight could hold, as well as what their alternate airport was. Klotz replied at 20:46:03 that they could hold for five more minutes.
The controller once again inquired as to their alternate airport and Klotz replied at 20:46:24, "It was Boston, but we can't do it now we, we, don't, we run out of fuel now."
A handoff controller listening in on the conversation called the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (NY
TRACON
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...
) at 20:46:24 and advised the TRACON controller that Avianca Flight 052 could only hold for five more minutes.
The handoff controller asked whether NY TRACON could take the flight or whether to send Avianca to its alternate airport.
The NY TRACON controller replied, "Slow him to one eight zero knots and I'll take him."
The handoff controller later testified that he had not heard Flight 052 say that they could no longer reach their alternate airport. At 20:46:47, the NY ARTCC radar controller cleared the flight to proceed to JFK at and to slow to . Flight 052 departed the CAMRN holding pattern at 20:47.
Landing attempt
![AviancaFinalFlightpathMap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/AviancaFinalFlightpathMap.png)
At 20:47:27, the NY TRACON feeder controller told the flight crew to "expect an
ILS two two left" "altimeter two niner six niner proceed direct Deer Park." At 20:54:40, the feeder controller directed Flight 052 to make a 360° turn. At 20:56:16, the controller gave the flight a
wind shear
Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...
advisory of an "increase of 10 knots at 1500 feet and then an increase of 10 knots at 500 feet."
The flight crew acknowledged the advisory. At 21:00, JFK was experiencing light drizzle and fog with mile visibility, an indefinite
ceiling
A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...
with obscured, and a wind of at 190°.
At 21:03:07, Flight 052 contacted the NY TRACON final controller, who cleared them to descend progressively to .
At 21:03:46, the flight crew discussed the
go-around
In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unstab ...
procedures. At 21:09:29, flight engineer Moyano stated that the controllers "already know that we are in
bad condition."
The captain said, "No they are descending us," and the second officer added, "They are giving us priority."
At 21:11:07, the NY TRACON final vector controller informed the flight that they were 15 miles from the
outer marker
A marker beacon is a particular type of VHF radio beacon used in aviation, usually in conjunction with an instrument landing system (ILS), to give pilots a means to determine position along an established route to a destination such as a runway. ...
and instructed them to maintain an altitude of "until established on the
localizer
An instrument landing system localizer, or simply localizer (LOC), is a system of horizontal guidance in the instrument landing system, which is used to guide aircraft along the axis of the runway.
Principle of operation
In aviation, a localiz ...
."
The flight crew began preparing for an instrument landing approach, extending
flaps and discussing the appropriate airspeed. The final controller instructed the flight crew to contact the JFK tower controllers and signed off. Klotz acknowledged the transmission.
At 21:15:19, Klotz contacted the tower controllers and informed that Flight 052 was "established two two left."
One minute later, the captain asked if he should lower the landing gear, but the first officer replied, "No I think it's too early now."
At 21:17:30, JFK tower asked Flight 052 to increase their airspeed by 10 knots to . At 21:18:11, the flight was from the outer marker. Twenty-one seconds later, the first officer remarked "glideslope alive."
At 21:19:09, the captain requested the landing gear be deployed.
Almost a minute later, the JFK tower cleared the flight to land on runway 22L. The captain asked the first officer to confirm that the flight was cleared to land. At 21:20:28, the first officer began informing the captain that the aircraft was below the glideslope. At 21:22:07, Flight 052 descended to . The aircraft began descending beyond the angle of the glideslope, then began climbing above it, followed by a steeper descent. At 21:22:57, the first officer commented, "This is the wind shear."
The first officer warned the captain about the
sink rate
In aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronauti ...
and noted an altitude of at 21:23:10. As he warned the captain, the
ground proximity warning system (GPWS) began 11 "whoop, whoop, pull up" audible warnings. At 21:23:13, the captain called for lights, followed by questions as to where the runway was a few seconds later. The GPWS began four "glideslope" audible warnings a few seconds later, alerting the flight crew that the aircraft was below the glideslope. In response to the captain's inquiries, the first officer replied that he did not see the runway.
At 21:23:23, the flight began climbing again, having come within of crashing 2 miles short of the runway. The landing gear was raised and the first officer announced that the flight was executing a
missed approach
Missed approach is a procedure followed by a pilot when an instrument approach cannot be completed to a full-stop landing. The instructions for the missed approach may be assigned by air traffic control (ATC) prior to the clearance for the approac ...
.
Crash
![Avianca-Crash-Profile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Avianca-Crash-Profile.svg)
The JFK tower controller asked the flight to climb to and make a left turn. At 21:24:06, the captain asked the first officer to "tell them we are in
nemergency."
The first officer told the JFK tower controller that "we'll try once again
we're running out of fuel," to which the controller replied, "okay."
A few seconds later, the captain again told the first officer to "advise him we are
n anemergency" and asked if he did so. The first officer replied, "Yes sir, I already advised him."
The JFK controller directed the flight to contact the NY TRACON approach controller once more at 21:24:39.
The TRACON controller asked the flight to climb once more to . The captain asked the first officer again to "advise him we don't have fuel."
The first officer replied, "Climb and maintain three thousand and ah we're running out of fuel sir."
The captain once again asked whether the first officer had advised the controller of their emergency, and the first officer replied, "Yes sir. I already advise him
hundred and eighty on the heading
we are going to maintain 3000 feet and he's going to get us back."
A minute later, the controller instructed the flight to turn to the northeast and asked the flight crew if they had enough fuel to be directed from the airport. First Officer Klotz replied, "I guess so thank you very much."
At 21:29:11, Klotz asked the controller if he "can give us
a final
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
now...?"
The controller said, "affirmative sir
turn left heading zero four zero."
At 21:30:12, the controller cleared another aircraft for landing.
Klotz briefly thought the clearance was directed at Avianca and began to tell Captain Caviedes to change course before the controller corrected him. The controller then asked Avianca to climb to . Klotz replied, "negative sir we just running out of fuel we okay three thousand now okay."
The controller continued to direct the flight northward, away from the airport. At 21:31:01, the controller said, "Okay and you're number two for the approach
I just have to give you enough room so you make it without ah having to come out again."
![Avianca52SeatMap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Avianca52SeatMap.svg)
At 21:32:38, the
cockpit voice recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
(CVR) recorded a temporary interruption in power. A second later, Flight Engineer Moyano exclaimed, "
Flame out
In aviation, a flameout (or flame-out) is the run-down of a jet engine or other turbine engine due to the extinction of the flame in its combustor. The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, comp ...
flame out on engine number four."
The CVR recorded another interruption in power one second after that, and Moyano said, "Flame out on engine number three
essential on number two or number one."
The captain acknowledged. At 21:32:49, Klotz radioed the controller, informing him that the flight had "just ah lost two engines
and ... we need priority please."
The controller instructed the flight to fly southwest to intercept the localizer.
Klotz acknowledged this. The flight crew selected the ILS. At 21:33:04, the controller informed the flight that they were from the outer marker and cleared them for an ILS approach on runway 22L. Klotz acknowledged. That was the final radio transmission from Flight 052. Caviedes asked if the ILS had been selected. Klotz replied, "It is ready on two" at 21:33:23. One second later, the CVR stopped recording.
At 21:34:00, the controller tried to radio the flight, asking, "You have enough fuel to make it to the airport?"
There was no response.
The NTSB report estimates that around this time, the flight crashed.
The aircraft descended without power, clipped several trees and posts, and crashed onto a hill with a 24° slope in Cove Neck, New York.
The fuselage partially fragmented into three distinct pieces. The cockpit and forward cabin separated from the rest of the airframe and were hurled over the crest of the hill, coming to a stop from the rest of the wreckage. The rest of the fuselage stopped within after impact. The main fuselage came to rest on the upslope of the hill, facing south, with the forward end extending over the crest of the hill. The right side of the forward end of the fuselage fractured a residential wooden deck.
Recovery
First response
Residents of Cove Neck immediately called emergency services.
Jeff Race, a paramedic and member of New York City's Emergency Medical Service, who lived half a mile from the crash site, was the first rescuer on site.
He reported that most passengers were still strapped in their seats and the survivors were crying out for help. Survivors later commented that it took about half an hour for rescue teams to arrive. Initial reports to emergency services reported that a much larger
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
had crashed.
Fire Chief Thomas Reardon of Oyster Bay Fire Company No. 1 was in charge of the initial effort to remove people from the wreckage. In his first call to the Nassau County Fire Commission dispatch, he requested all the help available. Thirty-seven fire and ambulance companies, as well as more than 700
Nassau County police officers arrived to help. Other companies that were not called showed up voluntarily to assist. The swell of support created major problems for extricating survivors.
The crash was only accessible to vehicles via a single residential street.
With the surge of rescue personnel who converged on the area, the roads leading to the site soon became choked with traffic. Emergency vehicle drivers abandoned their vehicles contrary to established policy in the course of the rescue efforts.
This prevented other vehicles from being able to access the crash area. The road was so impassable, many rescue workers left their vehicles miles away and made it to the scene on foot.
Fog also grounded rescue helicopters for two hours. As a result, many critically injured survivors were not evacuated until 23:30. Eventually, four helicopters from the
New York City Police Aviation Unit evacuated 21 people from the crash site. Also, major problems occurred with communication by rescuers. Radio frequencies became overloaded, and authorities on site were unable to make command decisions in some cases. The head of surgery of the
Nassau County Medical Center was present at the scene, but unable to direct patients to the best locations because many rescuers were radioing the center itself to get advice on where they should send the survivors. Medical professionals on site reported that some hospitals received the most up-to-date information by watching the news coverage. Despite these problems, however, only three of the passengers found alive died of their injuries.
Rescue workers set up two
triage
In medicine, triage () is a practice invoked when acute care cannot be provided for lack of resources. The process rations care towards those who are most in need of immediate care, and who benefit most from it. More generally it refers to prio ...
areas on the lawn of John and Kay McEnroe, the parents of professional tennis player
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
; the house is known as the
Edward H. Swan House.
A
morgue
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...
and command post were also set up on their property, which was from the crash site.
At least six bodies were found outside the fuselage.
Firefighters and medics erected ladders next to the airframe wreckage and led passengers down on stretchers and to the triage sites. At these sites, doctors tagged the critically injured patients for immediate evacuation. At least 30 bodies were gathered on the makeshift morgue at the McEnroe property by 03:00 the following morning.
Passenger Astrid Lopez was initially believed to be dead due to her severe injuries, and officials placed her body in the morgue.
A rescuer soon heard her moans, and she was sent to a hospital. Some medical responders were turned away from the scene by police to help ease the congestion. By 03:30, all the survivors had been evacuated to hospitals. At least one emergency responder was hospitalized as a result of the rescue efforts.
Throughout the evacuation, priests were on site, offering encouragement, assisting medical personnel, and performing
last rites
The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...
. Many local New York residents showed up at hospitals with food or blankets, or to volunteer as Spanish interpreters.
The
New York Blood Center
The New York Blood Center (NYBC) is a community, nonprofit blood bank based in New York City. Established in 1964 by Dr. Aaron Kellner, NYBC supplies blood to approximately 200 hospitals in the Northeast United States. NYBC and its operating divi ...
reported collecting 2,000 units of blood, almost triple their goal.
Casualties
![Avianca52-wreckage5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Avianca52-wreckage5.jpg)
Of the 158 people on board, 73 died as a result of the crash.
The lead flight attendant was the only crew member to survive, while the remaining flight attendants and all three flight crew members died.
Of the surviving passengers, 72 adults and children over three years old sustained serious injuries, while two sustained minor injuries. Of the 11 infants, two sustained minor injuries, eight were seriously injured, and one died.
The surviving flight attendant testified that no communication was made from the cockpit as to the unfolding situation, thus no warning came in the end to assume
brace position
To assume a brace position or crash position is an instruction that can be given to prepare for a crash, such as on an aircraft; the instruction to "Brace for impact!" or "Brace! Brace!" is often given if the aircraft must make an emergency land ...
s. The NTSB report held that, had passengers been warned ahead of time to brace for impact, the severity of some injuries might have been avoided.
The most common serious injuries were multiple lower
leg fracture
The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower lim ...
s and dislocations,
spinal fracture
A spinal fracture, also called a vertebral fracture or a broken back, is a fracture affecting the vertebrae of the spinal column. Most types of spinal fracture confer a significant risk of spinal cord injury. After the immediate trauma, there is ...
s,
hip fracture
A hip fracture is a break that occurs in the upper part of the femur (thigh bone). Symptoms may include pain around the hip, particularly with movement, and shortening of the leg. Usually the person cannot walk.
They most often occur as a res ...
s, head injuries, and multiple
laceration
A wound is a rapid onset of injury that involves lacerated or punctured skin (an ''open'' wound), or a contusion (a ''closed'' wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a ''wound'' is an acute injury that damages the epiderm ...
s and
contusion
A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close ...
s.
The NTSB investigators found severe damage on the floor of the cabin, leading many of the passengers' seats to fracture where their legs met the floor track.
This fracturing permitted many of the seats to come loose during the impact and aggravated the passengers' injuries. The report posits that the passengers' legs hit the lower seat frames in front of them.
At the same time, the seats collapsed and twisted downward and to the left, likely causing hip and spinal fractures. As the impact progressed, the seats, now separated, flung passengers forward into each other and into other wreckage, causing head injuries and lacerations. Passengers holding onto infants reported being unable to either prevent their children from being ejected from their grasp in the impact or locate their children in the darkness afterward. The NTSB held that, had the children been in FAA-approved child seats, many injuries might have been mitigated.
Rescuers remarked that some infants were found smiling or seemingly unharmed.
The NTSB was unable to accurately chart where individual passengers were seated because Avianca only assigned seats to a few passengers, and many who were assigned reported moving after takeoff.
The cockpit was severely damaged in the impact. It struck an oak tree, which penetrated the area occupied by Klotz and Moyano. All the seats occupied by the flight crew were found outside the cockpit. Neither of the pilots' seats had shoulder straps as were required by United States domestic passenger flights.
At least one flight crew member was airlifted to Nassau County Medical Center.
The NTSB report states that all of the flight crew "died from blunt-force head and upper torso trauma."
Five flight attendants also died from blunt-force trauma to the limbs, abdomen, chest, and head.
Investigation
![Avianca52-seat-wreckage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Avianca52-seat-wreckage.jpg)
The NTSB commenced an investigation, which began shortly after the crash, and concluded with the issuance of its final report on April 30, 1991.
Because it involved a Colombian airline, Colombia's
Departamento Administrativo de Aeronáutica Civil (DAAC) also conducted an investigation into the accident.
A survey of the wreckage revealed that the tail was mostly intact and all control surfaces were connected to the pilots' controls.
Both wings had been severely damaged on impact and fractured into several pieces. The flaps and
slats
Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag from the Earth's atmosphere which i ...
were found in their extended positions, with the flaps set at 14°. As with the tail, all wing control surfaces were found to have been connected to the pilots' controls. No evidence was found of any control surface failure prior to the crash. Investigators realized that none of the four engines had been under power at the time of impact.
As the first responders worked to rescue the passengers, investigators recovered the
flight data recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
(FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the wreckage, and brought them to the NTSB laboratory in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
.
The FDR was an older
oscillograph
An oscilloscope (informally a scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying electrical voltages as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The main purposes are to display repetiti ...
ic foil model.
In 1989, the FAA began requiring domestic carriers to change to digital FDRs to minimize the errors that foil models produced. This requirement did not apply to international carriers. The Avianca FDR foil was found to have been taped down at some point prior to the flight, thus was inoperative. The NTSB recommended in the Avianca report that the FAA take an "active role in ensuring upgraded international standards" for flight recorders.
The CVR and ATC recordings became vital sources of evidence for the crash. The investigators also looked at meteorological factors that led to flight problems.
The NTSB investigators found that the weather data that the flight crew received in Medellín were 9-10 hours old.
Additionally, the alternative airport on the flight plan,
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
in Boston, was forecast to be below the safe minimum for landing. The NTSB also stated that the flight crew should have been more aware of these problems and cited these deficiencies as evidence of inadequacies in the dispatch of the airplane. The NTSB also found no evidence that the flight crew ever requested weather information en route or communicated with Avianca
dispatchers about their fuel status and intents as other flights did.
Flight 052 did not make contact with FAA
flight service station
A flight service station (FSS) is an air traffic facility that provides information and services to aircraft pilots before, during, and after flights, but unlike air traffic control (ATC), is not responsible for giving instructions or clearances or ...
s or
flight watch Flight Watch is the common name in the United States for an En route Flight Advisory Service (EFAS) dedicated to providing weather to and collecting reports from pilots while in flight.
While U.S. Flight Service Stations (FSS) operate Flight Watch, ...
en route, and the NTSB was unable to determine why. The flight did not express any concern to ATC about their fuel situation during the first two holding patterns that the flight made. The first indication of worry came at 20:09 when the flight crew inquired about delays at Boston.
The NTSB posited that the flight crew might have become confused about the "expect further clearance" (EFC) times they were given. This confusion may have been the reason that the flight continued to hold, burning up its reserve fuel to the point where it could no longer divert to Boston.
Investigators also cited the flight engineer for failing to calculate the "minimum approach/landing fuel quantity."
The report references the 360° turn that the flight was ordered to make at 20:54 as evidence that the crew should have known that they were being treated routinely and ''not'' given any emergency priority. Instead, the CVR revealed that the flight crew was convinced that they were being given priority. Additionally, the NTSB criticized the first officer for failing to use the word "emergency" as the captain had insisted he do.
Compounded with the apparent inability of the captain to hear or understand the radio communications, the NTSB called the situation a "total breakdown in communications by the flight crew."
Summarizing, the investigators cited "the flight crew's failure to notify ATC of their fuel situation while holding at CAMRN in order to ensure arrival at the approach fix with an adequate approach minimum fuel level and a breakdown in communications between the flight crew and ATC, and among the flight crewmembers" as the two main factors that led to the crash.
Investigators asserted that the performances by the traffic controllers were proper and that the misunderstandings that were made were reasonable.
None of the controllers involved considered the word "priority" or the assertions by the flight crew that they were running out of fuel to be indicative of an emergency. The report provided various examples of the flight crew failing to convey the danger of their situation, even moments before the engines flamed out. Although the investigators felt that the communications from the ATC personnel were "proper," the NTSB voiced concern over the controllers ''not'' placing significance on the word "priority."
At a public hearing, it was revealed by an unrelated pilot that the emphasis on the word "priority" by the Avianca crew might have come from training and bulletins from Boeing that used the word in relation to fuel emergencies.
Avianca also used the word "priority" in its publications on low-fuel status procedures. ATC controllers testified that "
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
", "
pan-pan
The radiotelephony message PAN-PAN is the international standard urgency signal that someone aboard a boat, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle uses to declare that they have a situation that is urgent, but for the time being, does not pose an immed ...
", and "emergency" were the three phrases that they would respond to immediately.
The report also stated that "priority" was defined in the ATC Handbook as "precedence, established by order of urgency or importance."
As a result of this linguistic confusion, the NTSB recommended that the FAA work with the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...
to develop a standard glossary of clearly defined terms, as well as notify foreign carriers that they must be knowledgeable of ATC rules and procedures.
The NTSB also cited the captain's inability to land on his first attempt as contributing to the crash.
The investigation revealed that wind shear was a significant factor in the failed approach, but that other factors probably contributed. The report cited recurring maintenance problems with the airplane's
autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...
as a possible factor. If the pilots had been forced to fly manually from Medellín, investigators believed this might have added to exhaustion and stress in the cockpit. For evidence, the NTSB pointed to nine instances where the captain asked the copilot to repeat the ATC instructions or to confirm the aircraft configuration. This stress, investigators asserted, would have degraded the flight crew's performance on final approach.
Investigators also looked at the traffic management by the Central Flow Control Facility (CFCF).
The CFCF, in communication with NY TRACON, established an airport acceptance rate of 28 aircraft landings per hour that morning. Later, a CFCF supervisor contacted NY TRACON and requested a higher rate of 33 landings per hour. This acceptance rate, investigators concluded, was based on inaccurate weather conditions. The report concluded that these traffic-management problems contributed to the conditions that led to the accident, but did not lead directly to the accident.
Controversy
The probable cause of the crash was determined by the NTSB to be "the failure of the flight crew to adequately manage the airplane's fuel load, and their failure to communicate an emergency fuel situation to air traffic control before fuel exhaustion occurred."
However, two NTSB members filed dissenting opinions in the report. Jim Burnett voted against the adoption of the report because he felt it did not adequately address the failures of the air traffic controllers or the FAA's role in allowing more traffic than JFK could handle.
Christopher Hart filed a partial dissent because he disagreed with the report's findings of a lack of standardized terminology. In his dissent, he wrote that "we do have standardized understandable terminology ... that
would have adequately communicated the existence of a dangerous situation, and the problem was that the pilots failed to use this terminology with the controllers".
Colombia's DAAC investigators also disagreed with some of the NTSB's findings. In a comment on a draft of the NTSB's report, the DAAC recommended that the NTSB place some responsibility on the controllers for their "inadequate handling" of the Avianca flight.
The DAAC also recommended that the NTSB encourage modifying the EFC system, and that FAA regulations should require an "active flight-following system" to assist flight crews in evaluating weather and traffic delays.
Aftermath
Two male passengers were arrested at
North Shore Hospital
North Shore Hospital is a large public hospital in Takapuna, New Zealand, serving the northern part of Auckland. Located on Shakespeare Road near Lake Pupuke, it is administered by the Waitemata District Health Board, which provides health servi ...
after a nurse informed police that 46-year-old Antonio Zuluaga had
swallowed containers filled with cocaine. Zuluaga, who had a fractured spine, broken ribs, and a dislocated hip, was the second passenger to be found in possession of cocaine packages, after doctors operating on Jose Figueroa on the day after the crash to stop internal bleeding had also discovered packets of cocaine. Zuluaga and Figueroa pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal
possession of a controlled substance
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances.
While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the ...
. Figueroa was sentenced to seven years to life in prison, and Zuluaga was sentenced to six years to life.
Many crash survivors suffered long recoveries from the physical and psychological traumas they endured.
A month after the crash, an orderly caravan of around 1,000 vehicles drove to JFK while some demonstrators laid wreaths in the international terminal lobby to protest the handling of the flight.
Some survivors sued the FAA, accusing the agency of failing to ensure the flight's safety.
In July 1990, Avianca offered $75,000 to each crash survivor or the relatives of those killed.
The U.S. government eventually joined Avianca and reached a settlement estimated at over $200 million in damages to the victims.
The same summer, Avianca flights declared two notable fuel emergencies. The first happened in June, when a flight declared a "minimum fuel situation" and landed with only 10 minutes' worth of fuel left.
The second happened in August, when Avianca Flight 20 declared it had "only 15 minutes of fuel left".
Confusion arose as to what the pilot meant, but controllers declared an emergency pre-emptively and cleared the plane to land immediately. The flight was later found to have had over two hours' worth of fuel remaining.
Avianca has not
retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
the flight number. Avianca Flight 052 is, as of 2020, a flight from Lima to Bogotá. Avianca however, has changed the numbers for the now nonstop flights from El Dorado to JFK, designated as Avianca Flight AV244 and Flight AV020, operated by an
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
and an
Airbus A319
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a ...
, respectively.
In popular culture
* The events of Flight 052 were featured in "Missing over New York", a
season-two (2005) episode of the Canadian TV series ''
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
''
(called ''Air Emergency'' and ''Air Disasters'' in the U.S. and ''Air Crash Investigation'' in the UK and elsewhere around the world). The dramatization was broadcast with the title "Deadly Delay" in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia. The flight was also included in a ''Mayday''
season-eight (2009) ''Science of Disaster'' special titled "System Breakdown",
which looked at the role of air traffic controllers in aviation disasters.
* Avianca Flight 052 was featured on the
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
network's ''
Why Planes Crash
''Why Planes Crash'' was an aviation documentary TV mini-series based on aircraft accidents and crashes. The series was created and named by producer Caroline Sommers, on behalf of NBC Peacock Productions. The series premiere on July 12, 2009, fe ...
'' series, in an episode titled "Human Error".
* The impact of cultural differences between the Colombian pilots and American air traffic controllers was discussed in
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published seven books: '' The Tipping Point: How Little T ...
's book ''
Outliers
In statistics, an outlier is a data point that differs significantly from other observations. An outlier may be due to a variability in the measurement, an indication of novel data, or it may be the result of experimental error; the latter are ...
''.
*
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
of the plane wreckage was used in the 2004 film ''
The Day After Tomorrow
''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Roland Emmerich. Based on the 1999 book ''The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, the film stars Denn ...
''.
* Survivor Nestor Zarate wrote a book about the flight, titled ''20 minutos antes... 20 años después (20 Minutes Before... 20 Years Later)''.
See also
*
Impact of culture on aviation safety
Culture can affect aviation safety through its effect on how the flight crew deals with difficult situations; cultures with lower power distances and higher levels of individuality can result in better aviation safety outcomes. In higher power cu ...
*
United Airlines Flight 173
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. On December 28, 1978, the aircraft ...
*
LaMia Flight 2933
LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad a ...
*
1977 Libyan Arab Airlines Tu-154 crash
Notes
References
External links
NTSB Final Report*
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990
Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by fuel exhaustion
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
Airliner accidents and incidents in New York (state)
Avianca accidents and incidents
Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error
Colombia–United States relations
Oyster Bay (town), New York
1990 in New York (state)
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1990
January 1990 events in the United States