Aviaco Flight 118
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Aviaco Flight 118 was a
Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for th ...
operated by Aviaco that crashed in the village of Montrove,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
on 13 August 1973, while attempting to land at Alvedro Airport in heavy fog. The aircraft crashed into an abandoned farmhouse approximately from the airport. All 85 persons on board perished in the crash and subsequent fire. One person in the village also died. Flight 118 was a seasonal daily flight from
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
to
A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
favoured by tourists.Transcript
Local news reports indicated that AO118 was a special "vacation flight" run by Aviaco during the summer season, so as to provide easy access to Galicia's numerous ocean-side resorts. The aircraft had taken off normally from Madrid at 9:14 a.m. CEST. After an uneventful journey, the commander contacted the control tower at La Coruña Airport at 10:14, and was informed of the poor visibility in the area at that time. Despite being advised to stand by in anticipation of an early improvement in weather conditions, the crew began a first approach at 10:23 to check the actual visibility. The manoeuvre was frustrated, and the aircraft returned to an altitude of 2000 metres. After a second unsuccessful approach, at 11:20 the tower warned Flight 118 that the fog was lifting, and that the horizontal visibility had increased to about 1500 meters and the vertical visibility was close to 300 meters. At 11:39, the crew reported that they had begun a new approach, this being the last communication received by the airport control tower. Shortly afterwards the aircraft hit eucalyptus trees, struck the ground and collided with the abandoned farmhouse before bursting into flames. The collision and fire killed 84 of the aircraft's 85 occupants immediately. The only survivor, who was taken to the Hospital in La Coruña, died a few hours later as a result of the serious injuries suffered. In addition, one person on the ground was reported to have been killed. The official cause of the accident was the pilot's violation of air safety rules by landing in poor visibility. This fact was considered even more serious considering that at
Santiago de Compostela Airport Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
the visibility was good at the time of the accident, and being only 45 km away.


References


Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973 1973 in Spain Accidents and incidents involving the Sud Aviation Caravelle Aviaco accidents and incidents April 1973 events in Europe {{Spain-transport-stub