Prinair Flight 191 was a
Prinair (Puerto Rico International Airlines) flight from
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, to
Mercedita Airport in
Ponce, Puerto Rico. At approximately 11:15pm on 24 June 1972, the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport. Five people died in the accident.
[First NTSB report on the investigation into the crash of N554PR.](_blank)
Retrieved: 14 August 2008. and the remaining people were injured.
Aircraft and crew
The flight was operated by a
de Havilland DH.114 Heron 2B aircraft, registration number N554PR. The aircraft was almost fully loaded, with eighteen passengers and a crew of two on board. The flight was under the command of
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 ...
Donald Price (28), a very experienced airman who had clocked approximately 8,300 total flight hours, more than 3,000 of which were accrued in the aircraft type. The
first officer was Gary Belejeu (27). Far less experienced than the captain, Belejeu had logged roughly 1,400 total flight hours, with 102 hours in the DH-114.
[http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR75-17.pdf ]
Flight and accident
The flight was uneventful up to the moment of landing. As the flight was late at night, the control tower at Mercedita Airport was closed, therefore the flight crew was responsible for the landing clearance.
Just after touching down on the runway at Mercedita Airport the flight crew made a decision to
go around. The pilot over-rotated the aircraft and caused it to
stall at a low level and crash; three passengers and the two flight crew members died, the other fifteen passengers were injured, seven severely. Heavy fog was also a contributing factor in this accident.
Investigation
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) investigation concluded that the probable cause was the "presence of an unauthorized vehicle on the runway which caused the pilot to attempt a go-around after touchdown to avoid a collision. The maneuver resulted in an overrotation of the aircraft at too low an airspeed to sustain flight".
This was based on eyewitness accounts of a set of lights visible on the runway as Flight 191 approached, and other eyewitness accounts of a vehicle owned by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority being parked shortly after the accident and the driver acting in a suspicious manner.
Three years after the accident the NTSB was compelled to re-open the investigation into the crash, after submissions were received that the person who was suspected of driving the "unauthorized vehicle" had actually left the airport about fifteen minutes before the aircraft crashed.
The second investigation concluded that there was no airport vehicle on the runway, and that the reason for the go-around of the aircraft was unknown; a new report was issued, explaining the evidence as to the location of the airport vehicle and amending the Probable Cause to remove reference to a vehicle being on the runway.
[Second NTSB report on the crash of N554PR.](_blank)
/ref>
See also
* List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
References
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
1972 in Puerto Rico
Airliner accidents and incidents in Puerto Rico
Prinair accidents and incidents
Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Heron
June 1972 events in North America
Mercedita International Airport