Summary Pilot error or CFIT Passengers 72 Injuries (non-fatal) 0 Date 4 June 1969 Fatalities 79 (all) | Site Apodaca, Nuevo León Crew 7 Survivors 0 Operator Mexicana de Aviación Location Apodaca | |
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Destination Del Norte International Airport Summaries Pilot error, Controlled flight into terrain Similar 1969 Aswan Ilyushin Il, Olympic Airways Flight 954, Air France Flight 212, Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Fl, Scandinavian Airlines System Fl | ||
On June 4, 1969, Mexicana Flight 704, a Boeing 727-64 airliner registered XA-SEL, crashed near Salinas Victoria, some 20 miles north of the city of Monterrey. All 79 people on board were killed, including Mexican tennis star Rafael Osuna and politician Carlos A. Madrazo. The aircraft was approaching Del Norte International Airport near Monterrey. It had made a continuous descent in the last 5 minutes before impact. The pilot turned left instead of right once the aircraft had passed over the Monterrey VOR, apparently not knowing his exact position at the time. The aircraft collided with Cerro del Fraile upon impact and broke up.
The crash of Flight 704 was the deadliest aviation accident on Mexican soil until Mexicana Flight 940, another Boeing 727, crashed on March 31, 1986, killing all 167. It remains Mexico's second-deadliest aircraft accident to date, behind Flight 940.