Passengers 16 Aircraft type SNCASE Languedoc Flight origin Vigo Airport Operator Aviaco Passenger count 16 | Crew 5 Registration EC-ANR Date 4 December 1958 Total fatalities 21 (all) Location Spain | |
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Site Guadarrama Mountains, Spain Summary Controlled flight into terrain Similar 1958 London Vickers Vi, 1958 Channel Airways d, 1958 Dan‑Air Avro York, 1958 Central African Ai, KLM Flight 607‑E | ||
The 1958 Aviaco SNCASE Languedoc crash occurred on 4 December 1958 when a SNCASE Languedoc of Aviaco crashed into the La Rodina de la Mujer Muertal mountain, in the Guadarrama Mountains, Spain, killing all 21 people on board. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Vigo Airport to Barajas Airport, Madrid.
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Aircraft
The accident aircraft was SNCASE Languedoc msn 28, registration EC-ANR.
Accident
The aircraft departed from Vigo Airport at 15:40 local time on 4 December 1958 bound for Barajas Airport, Madrid. At 17:15, the aircraft was instructed to contact the control tower at Barajas and remain at Flight Level 95. In the next five minutes, the aircraft crashed into the 1,999-metre (6,558 ft) high La Rodina de la Mujer Muertal mountain, in the Guadarrama Mountains. All five crew and seventeen passengers on board were killed. The search for the aircraft was hampered by inclement weather, with fog, snow, high winds and torrential rain reported.
The cause of the accident was that the pilot flew too low whilst trying to descend out of icing conditions. A navigational error may also have contributed to the accident.