The 1977 Aviateca Convair 240 airplane crash was a scheduled
Aviateca
Aviateca S.A. branded Avianca Guatemala is a regional airline headquartered in Guatemala City. Aviateca was under government ownership and remained so until 1989 when it joined the Grupo TACA alliance of Central America and was privatized. It wa ...
passenger flight
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
that crashed near
Guatemala City, Guatemala on April 27, 1977. All 28 people on board survived, but the aircraft was destroyed.
[United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority CAP479 World Airline Accident Summary Volume 2 Page 16/77 (ICAO Summary 8/81)]
Final moments
The aircraft, a
Convair 240, took off from
La Aurora International Airport (GUA/MGGT) in Guatemala City as scheduled. During the initial climb to
cruise altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
, the
number one engine suffered a failure due to oil loss. The crew was unable to
feather the propeller, and was forced to attempt an
emergency landing in rough terrain. The plane was destroyed in the attempt, but none of the 22 passengers and six crew on board were killed.
Investigation
The government of Guatemala initiated a full investigation. It found that the aircraft had undergone maintenance shortly before the flight. In order to perform the maintenance, it was necessary to disconnect a high-pressure oil hose from the engine
cylinders
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infini ...
. The hose was not correctly reattached, thus starving the engine of
oil.
References
External links
* (includes picture of accident aircraft)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aviateca Convair 240 Crash, 1977
Accidents and incidents involving the Convair CV-240 family
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1977
Aviation accidents and incidents in Guatemala
Avianca Guatemala accidents and incidents
1977 in Guatemala
April 1977 events in North America