Avianca Flight 03 was a

passenger flight An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

from

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia that crashed on January 14, 1966. After takeoff, as the aircraft reached , it

stalled ''Stalled'' is a 2013 British zombie comedy film directed by Christian James. It stars Dan Palmer, who also wrote the screenplay, as a man confined to a bathroom stall after zombies attack. Produced by Richard Kerrigan and Daniel Pickering, the ...

and crashed into shallow water. After a 14-month investigation, engine failure was found to be a possible, but unproven, cause. Poor maintenance and inadequate inspections were also suspected.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a

Douglas C-54 The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

, the military version of the

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

produced during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, registered HK-730 to Avianca. The aircraft involved was produced in 1944; because of military needs, it was equipped with larger fuel tanks, which allowed for intercontinental passenger flights.

Sequence of events

At 20:50 on January 14, the aircraft was cleared for takeoff. The plane reached after rotation, but then began to descend. It then crashed into the sea 1,300 meters from the airport

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

. Out of the 64 people aboard, only 8 survived.

External links

References

Avianca accidents and incidents 1966 in Colombia Aviation accidents and incidents in Colombia Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966 January 1966 in South America Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-4 {{Aviation-accident-stub