Avensa Flight 358 was a scheduled airline flight from
Maturín Airport to
Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela that crashed on 22 December 1974 killing all 75 people on board.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a seven-year-old
DC-9-14, which had been delivered to Avensa from
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...
in 1967.
Accident
On 22 December 1974, the
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...
, with 69 passengers and 6 crew on board, took off on runway 05 from Maturín Airport.
In command was 49-year-old Captain Diógenes Torrellas Leon, a veteran pilot with 25,000 hours of flying time, and the First Officer was Norberto Vivas Uzcátegui. Five minutes after takeoff the pilots declared an emergency to the control tower. The pilots lost control of the aircraft and crashed from the city of
Maturín, Venezuela.
All 75 on board the flight perished.
Cause
Venezuelan authorities and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident. The cause of the accident was not determined, though an elevator malfunction was considered.
See also
*
Aviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...
*
List of aircraft accidents and incidents resulting in at least 50 fatalities
*
List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
References
External links
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg-tNN06lXs
http://www.volarenvenezuela.com/vev/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1236
Aviation accidents and incidents in Venezuela
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9
Avensa accidents and incidents
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1974
1974 in Venezuela
December 1974 in South America
1974 disasters in Venezuela
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