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LANSA Cuzco Crash

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   CAPTION: LANSA Cuzco Crash

                   Summary
       Date         August 9, 1970
       Type        Pilot Error
       Site         Cuzco, Peru
    Fatalities     99 (2 on ground)
     Injuries      1
                  Aircraft
   Aircraft type    Lockheed Electra L-188A
     Operator      LANSA
    Tail number    OB-R-939
    Passengers     92
       Crew        8
     Survivors     1

   The LANSA Cuzco Crash was an aviation accident that took place in
   Cuzco, Peru. On August 9, 1970, at about 3 PM local time, a Lockheed
   Electra L-188A 4-engine turboprop registered OB-R-939, bound from Cuzco
   to Lima, operated by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA),
   carrying 8 crew and 92 passengers, crashed into hilly terrain shortly
   after takeoff, after losing one of its engines. All but one of the
   occupants died from injuries sustained from impact forces and post
   crash fire. Two people on the ground were killed. There were notably 46
   American high school exchange students on board, all of whom perished.
   At the time, the crash was the worst ever in Peru's history.

Background

   Over half of the passengers belonged to a single group, sponsored by
   the Buffalo, New York based International Fellowship Student Exchange
   Program, consisting of 46 American high school exchange students, along
   with their teachers and guides, who were returning from a visit to
   nearby Machu Picchu to their host families in the Lima area. The
   daughter of the mayor of Lima was also accompanying the group. The
   Peruvian passengers included a couple on their honeymoon.

   August 9, 1970 was a Sunday, and the Cuzco-Lima flight, operated by
   LANSA, the national Peruvian airline, was originally scheduled to
   depart Cuzco at 8:30 AM in the morning, but since many of the members
   of the American group wanted to visit the nearby Pisac native
   handicraft market prior to leaving for Lima, the airline postponed the
   flight to a new scheduled departure time of 2:45 PM.

   The Quispiquilla Airport, since renamed to Alejandro Velasco Astete
   International Airport, is located about 3 miles east-southeast of the
   city of Cuzco, in a small valley high on the Andes mountains, at an
   altitude of 10,860 feet above mean sea level. Higher mountainous
   terrain surrounds the single east-west runway airport in all
   directions. Since it was August, it was winter time in Peru, as in the
   rest of the southern hemisphere.

Accident sequence

   At about 2:55 PM, the four-engine Lockheed Electra L-188A turboprop
   began its takeoff run to the west. At some point during the takeoff run
   or initial climb, the number three engine failed and caught fire. The
   crew continued the takeoff and climb, per standard procedure, using
   power from the remaining three engines. The pilot radioed the control
   tower declaring an emergency, and the control tower cleared the flight
   for an immediate landing. The number three engine was engulfed in
   flames as the crew retracted the flaps and maneuvered the plane into a
   left turn back to the runway. The plane entered a 30-45 degree bank,
   then rapidly lost altitude and crashed into hilly terrain about 1.5
   miles west-southwest of the runway. All aboard perished except the
   copilot, who was badly burned but survived. Two farmers were killed on
   the ground.

Investigation

   The Peruvian government investigated the accident, and in its final
   report concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the
   improper execution of engine-out procedures by the flight crew, with
   contributing factors of improper loading of the aircraft and improper
   maintenance procedures by company personnel. There was also evidence of
   a coverup and falsification of critical maintenance records by LANSA
   employees during the investigation process. The Peruvian government
   subsequently fined LANSA and some of its employees, and suspended the
   airline's operating license for 90 days as a consequence.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LANSA_Cuzco_Crash"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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