Dominican Republic

On June 2, 2000, about 1240 Atlantic standard time, a Cessna 401, Dominican Republic registration HI-696CT, registered to and operated by Air Century, crashed shortly after takeoff from La Romana International Airport, La Romana, Dominican Republic, while on an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was destroyed. The commercial-rated pilot received fatal injuries. The commercial-rated second pilot received serious injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. Civil aviation authorities stated that the flight was an instructional flight. Shortly after takeoff on runway 12, the pilot simulated the failure of the left engine. Control of the aircraft was lost and the aircraft crashed 350 meters from the runway. Examination of the aircraft and engines showed no mechanical anomalies.

The single engine aircraft was completing a local touristic flight with six passengers and a pilot on board. While flying at low altitude in the vicinity of the Samaná Bay, the aircraft collided with a coconut tree. The right wing was torn off and the aircraft crashed, killing all seven occupants. Weather conditions were good at the time of the accident.

On behalf of Alas Nacionales, the aircraft was completing a charter flight from Puerto Plata to Frankfurt with intermediate stops in Gander and Berlin, carrying 176 Germans and 13 Turkish crew members. During the takeoff roll, at a speed of 80 knots, the captain noted that his air speed indicator (ASI) seemed to be incorrect while the copilot's ASI seemed to be correct. During initial climb, at an altitude of about 4,700 feet, the captain's ASI read 350 knots while the real speed was 220 knots. This resulted in an autopilot/autothrottle reaction to increase the pitch-up attitude and a power reduction in order to lower the airspeed. At that time the crew got 'Rudder ratio' and 'Mach airspeed' advisory warnings. Both pilots got confused when the copilot stated that his ASI read 200 knots decreasing while getting an excessive speed warning, followed by a stick shaker warning. This led the pilots to believe that both ASIs were unreliable. Finally realizing that they were losing speed and altitude they disconnected the autopilot. The autopilot, fed by the captain's faulty ASI, had reduced the speed close to the stall speed. Full thrust was then applied. At 23:47:17 an aural GPWS warning sounded and eight seconds later, the aircraft crashed in the ocean. All 189 occupants were killed.

The aircraft departed Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport at 0822LT on a cargo flight to Aguadilla. Few minutes later, the crew informed ATC about technical problems and was cleared to return. In unclear circumstances, the aircraft crashed 88 minutes after its departure in an isolated area located in the region of La Romana. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

The crew was completing a short flight from Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport to Santo Domingo-Herrera Airport located in the city center. On short final, the pilot-in-command mistakenly reduced the engine power too much, causing the aircraft to lose height and to struck the runway surface with an excessive vertical speed. The aircraft landed hard, bounced and came to rest few hundred metres further. All six occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Fifteen minutes after takeoff from Puerto Plata-Gregorio Luperón Airport, the pilot informed ATC about technical problems with the right engine and was cleared to return. Shortly later, the aircraft lost speed and height then crashed in a wooded area located near Moca, bursting into flames. All four occupants were killed.

Twenty minutes after takeoff from San Juan-Luis Muñoz Marin Airport, while in cruising altitude, a steward noticed smoke in the lavatory and informed the crew accordingly. In the meantime, the crew noticed a fire alarm in the cockpit, declared an emergency and became number one for landing at Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport. Following a normal approach and landing, the crew vacated the runway and parked the aircraft at gate A6. While the passengers was disemmarking, smoke spread in the cabin and fire erupted, destroying the airplane.

During the takeoff roll at Santo Domingo-Las Américas Airport, the copilot started the rotation but the aircraft failed to respond. The captain took over controls when the aircraft started to veer to the left and skidded. The crew aborted the takeoff procedure when the aircraft rolled left and right, causing the right wing to struck the ground. On impact, both right engines n°3 and 4 were torn off. Out of control, the aircraft veered off runway to the right, lost its undercarriage and came to rest, bursting into flames. All three crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was destroyed.

While on a VOR approach to runway 26 at Puerto Plata-Gregorio Luperón Airport, the crew decided to make a circling visual approach to runway 08. While turning, the four engine aircraft struck the Peak Isabel de Torres located 14 km west of runway 08 threshold. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 34 occupants were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from Santiago de Los Caballeros-Cibao Airport, while flying at low height, the aircraft struck high power cables and crashed in a wooded area. Both pilots were killed.