Linea Aeropostal Venezolana - LAV | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The aircraft departed Caracas-Maiquetía-Simón Bolívar Airport on a schedule service to Puerto Ordaz, carrying 125 passengers and a crew of 5. On this flight, the copilot was the PIC with the captain acting as instructor and a second copilot who was seating in the jump seat and acting as an observer. During the takeoff roll from Caracas Airport, the liftoff was completed quickly, causing the base of the empennage to struck the runway surface (tail strike). Nevertheless, the captain decided to proceed to Puerto Ordaz. On final to Puerto Ordaz, the approach speed was too low (123,8 knots). The aircraft sank and landed hard, causing the fuselage to be bent at the aft cabin, just prior to the tail, and both engine pylons to fail and to break from the fuselage. The aircraft was brought to a stop on the main runway and all 130 occupants evacuated safely.

Probable cause:

The accident investigators, taking into account the characteristics of the accident and the evidence collected in the course of the investigation, considered the Human Factor as the reason for this accident, being able to demonstrate convincingly the following causes:
- There was a breach of the provisions in Chapter 4 (flight operations policies), paragraph 6 (sterile cabin) of the Operations Manual of the airline due to carrying out activities that were not related to the conduct of the flight.
- Lack of situational awareness of the Flight Instructor, the observer pilot and the first officer.
- The captain performed other duties, adding to the duties already being accomplished in his role as a flight instructor.

Final Report:

N79750

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N79749

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Crash of a Douglas DC-9-15 off Margarita Island: 11 killed

Date & Time: Apr 2, 1993

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-9

Operator:

Registration:

YV-03C

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Test

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Caracas - Caracas

MSN:

47000

YOM:

1967

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Caracas-Maiquetía-Simon Bolivar on a post maintenance test flight, carrying eight engineers and technicians and three crew members. Twenty-eight minutes into the flight, the crew started the test program when nine minutes later, the pilot was able to send a brief mayday message but its content remains unclear. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea 16 km off Margarita Island. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and few debris were found floating on water while the majority of the aircraft sank to a significant depth and was not recovered.

Probable cause:

Due to lack of evidences, the exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty.

Crash of a Douglas DC-9-32 on Mt La Aguada: 45 killed

Date & Time: Mar 5, 1991 at 1617 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-9

Operator:

Registration:

YV-23C

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Maracaibo – Santa Bárbara de Zulia

MSN:

47720

YOM:

1976

Flight number:

LV108

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

32452

Aircraft flight cycles:

50298

Circumstances:

After departure from Maracaibo-La Chinita Airport, the crew followed a wrong heading to Santa Bárbara de Zulia (153° instead of 193°), which caused the aircraft to fly to the southeast over the lake of Maracaibo. While cruising at an altitude of 16,500 feet, the crew was cleared by ATC to descend to 5,500 feet. The crew reported to ATC that the VOR seemed to be inoperative but this was denied by the air traffic controller. At an altitude of 9,900 feet, the captain realized something was wrong about the heading selection, stopped the descent and initiated a right turn to gain height when the GPWS alarm sounded. Shortly later, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt La Aguada (3,320 meters high) located about 27 km northeast of Valera, some 170 km northeast of Santa Bárbara de Zulia. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 45 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The accident was the consequence of the combination of the following factors:
- The crew failed to prepare the flight according to published procedures and failed to follow various checklists,
- The crew failed to realize he was following a wrong heading after takeoff and failed to proceed to the en-route checks as required,
- The crew was distracted by conversations with a third person who was seating on the jumpseat all flight,
- The crew failed to supervise the flight according to standard operations,
- Poor crew coordination,
- Lack of discipline,
- At the time of impact, the aircraft was flying under VFR mode in IMC conditions,
- Poor visibility due to low clouds surroundings the mountains struck by the airplane.

Crash of a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 in Urimán: 2 killed

Date & Time: Apr 17, 1978

Type of aircraft:

De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter

Operator:

Registration:

YV-30C

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Urimán – Canaima

MSN:

526

YOM:

1977

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Crashed after takeoff from Urimán Airport for unknown reasons. Both pilots were killed.

Crash of an Avro 748-2A+-283 off Macuto: 47 killed

Date & Time: Mar 3, 1978

Type of aircraft:

Avro 748

Operator:

Registration:

YV-45C

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Caracas – Cumaná

MSN:

1744

YOM:

1976

Location:

Caracas-Maiquetía-Simón Bolívar

Vargas

Country:

Venezuela

Region:

South America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Maiquetía-Simon Bolivar Airport, while climbing, the airplane went out of control, entered a dive and crashed into the sea few km off Macuto. All 47 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the loss of control was the consequence of an artificial horizon failure during climb out.

Crash of a Vickers 749 Viscount in Porlamar: 48 killed

Date & Time: Aug 14, 1974 at 0920 LT

Type of aircraft:

Vickers Viscount

Operator:

Registration:

YV-C-AMX

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Caracas - Porlamar

MSN:

YOM:

1956

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While descending to Porlamar-Del Caribe-General en Jefe Santiago Mariño Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with low visibility and heavy rain falls. In accordance with ATC, the crew decided to divert to Cumaná Airport and while completing a turn to change heading, the four engine airplane struck the peak La Gloria located about 10 km northeast of Porlamar Airport. The wreckage was found eight meters below the summit and the copilot, seriously injured, was evacuated to an hospital in Caracas while 47 other occupants were killed. 17 days later, the copilot Ivan Rodolfo Magallanes died from his injuries.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the crew may have lost his orientation during the few seconds preceding impact with the ground, maybe following a malfunction of several instruments whose parameters were probably badly influenced by static electricity accumulated in the stormy weather. At the time of the accident, hurricane 'Alma' was approximately 100 km east of Margarita Island.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-25-DK in Venezuela

Date & Time: Dec 31, 1973

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

YV-C-AFO

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

MSN:

13699

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft registered YV-C-AFO (c/n 13699) crashed in unknown circumstances (maybe a mislanding) somewhere in Venezuela ? The exact date remains unknown but the aircraft was cancelled from the register in 1973.

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL in Canaima: 34 killed

Date & Time: Aug 27, 1972

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

YV-C-AKE

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Canaima - Caracas

MSN:

4705

YOM:

1942

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Canaima Airport, while climbing, the left engine failed. The crew decided to return for an emergency when on final, the airplane stalled and crashed few km from the airfield. None of the 34 occupants survived the crash.

Probable cause:

Failure of the left engine after takeoff for undetermined reason.

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