Summary Runway overrun Crew 18 Survivors 298 Survivor 298 | Passengers 296 Injuries (non-fatal) 57 (20 on ground) Date 21 December 1999 Total fatalities 18 (2 on ground) Passenger count 296 | |
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Similar Cubana de Aviación Flight 310, China Southwest Airlines Fl, Turkish Airlines Flight 5904, TACV Flight 5002, Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316 | ||
Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 that overran the runway at La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, on 21 December 1999. Eight passengers and eight crew members on board were killed as well as two people on the ground.
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Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, registration F-GTDI, leased by Cubana de Aviación from AOM French Airlines. The aircraft was just under 27 years old and had flown 85,760 hours at the time of the accident.
Accident
Flight 1216 was a special charter transporting Guatemalan students home from universities in Cuba. The aircraft took off from José Martí International Airport in Cuba with 296 passengers and 18 crew on board. After a two-hour flight the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 19 at La Aurora International Airport. On landing the pilots were unable to stop the aircraft and it ran off the end of the runway and down a slope, crashing into ten houses. The accident killed 18 people in all: eight passengers and eight crew members on board the aircraft, and two occupants of the houses. There were 298 passengers and crew who survived; however 37 passengers and crew and another 20 people on the ground were injured in the accident. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair in the accident.
The crash occurred in the La Libertad neighborhood. Jorge Toledo, the Cuban pilot, was among the dead.
Cause
The accident was investigated by the Sección de Investigación de Accidentes of Guatemala's Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. The investigation found that the aircraft touched down too far along the wet runway with insufficient deceleration, and that the crew had failed to initiate a go-around.