- | ACCIDENT DETAILS |
Date: | August 16, 2005 |
Time: | 0330 |
Location: | Near La Cucharita, Venezuela |
Operator: | West Caribbean Airways |
Flight #: | 708 |
Route: | Panama City - Fort de France, Martinique |
AC Type: | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 |
Registration: | HK-4374X |
cn / ln: | 49484/1315 |
Aboard: | 160 (passengers:152 crew:8) |
Fatalities: | 160 (passengers:152 crew:8) |
Ground: | 0 |
Summary: | While en route, the crew reported engine trouble with both engines and planed to divert to Caracas. The plane began losing altitude and eventually crashed in the Sierra de Perija mountains on the Columbian-Venezuelan border. The autopilot might have reduced engine power too much after a rapid climb to FL330, allowing airspeed to bleed off to the point of a stall. Also the data recorder showed that rather than push the nose over to recover from the stall, the pilots held the yoke to their chests all the way to the ground. It has also been suggesting that a buildup of ice inside each engine's PT2 probe was responsible for the accident. |
Sources
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