Puerto Plata

While descending to Puerto Plata Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and limited visibility due to low clouds and fog. The twin engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Loma del Toro located few km from Puerto Plata and was destroyed. All seven occupants were killed. The crew started the approach prematurely and descended too low in poor visibility.

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.

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.

While approaching Puerto Plata-La Union Airport, the right engine failed. Cleared to land on runway 08, the crew initiated a go-around procedure for unclear reasons. While climbing, the left engine lost power and failed so the crew attempted an emergency landing in a field. The aircraft crash landed in a sugar cane field and came to rest. All 35 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft arrived at Ciudad Trujillo on the morning of 16 August with No, 2 engine inoperative. It was decided to disembark the passengers there and continue the flight to New York via Miami, using only three engines, in order that the defective engine could be changed in New York. The aircraft, therefore, carrying only the crew, took off from General Andrews Airport, Ciudad Trujillo at 1516 hours with No. 2 propeller feathered. About 50 minutes after take-off, No. 4 engine propeller oversped and proved to be impossible to control or feather. It then tore free from the engine, damaging No. 3 engine propeller as it parted; No. 3 propeller was, therefore, feathered. In the meantime, No. 4 engine caught fire, and only No. 1 engine remained operative. As it was not possible to reach Ciudad Trujillo, an attempt was made to land on the road or the beach, but this failed owing to the large number of trees and the narrowness of the beach. Under these circumstances the aircraft was ditched parallel to the coast about 500 metres from it. It was considered that in carrying out the three-engined ferry flight without passengers, the operator acted in accordance with para. 6.2. 2, Part II of the ICAO International Standards and Recommended Practices, Annex 8 to the Convention, "when the State of Registry considers that the damage sustained is of a nature such that the aircraft is no longer airworthy, it shall prohibit the aircraft from resuming flight until it is restored to an airworthy condition; the State of Registry may, however, in exceptional circumstances, prescribe particular limiting conditions to permit the aircraft to fly without fare-paying passengers to an aerodrome at which it can be restored to an airworthy condition". After ditching, the aircraft sank to a depth of about 40 feet. On a second attempt the weather permitted a diving operation to be carried out, and inspection of the wreckage revealed the following in- formation: All six flap sections of the port wing were entirely separated from the aircraft. No. 1 engine propeller tore free at the time of impact, splitting the propeller shaft next to the propeller thrust bearing. No. 2 power plant was wrenched free from its nacelle and remained attached to it only by pipes and control cables. This propeller was feathered. The two inner flap sections of the starboard wing were fractured and partially detached from the aircraft. The No. 3 engine propeller also was feathered and the tip of one of its blades was broken a point 18 inches from the leading edge to 12 inches from the trailing edge. The trailing edge of the same blade also had two deep dents. Marks, apparently made by a propeller blade, were found on the right side of the No. 3 engine cowling, No. 4 engine propeller was missing but only a small part of the nose section of the No. 4 engine was broken. The diaphragm and the pitch reducing mechanism were in their original places. The fuselage was fractured and the crack extended diagonally across the main part from the front towards the right rear wall.

The seaplane was used by personnel from the Legión Caribe to take part of the invasion of the Dominican Republic. As the invasion failed, the crew attempted to flee when the aircraft was shot downy by Dominican soldiers located in a speedboat. The seaplane caught fire and sank. All four crew members were killed.