Suvarna Garge (Editor)

SANSA Flight 32

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Passengers
  
20

Fatalities
  
23 (all)

Aircraft type
  
CASA C-212 Aviocar

Injuries (nonfatal)
  
0

Operator
  
Sansa Airlines

Crew
  
3

Survivors
  
0

Date
  
15 January 1990

Destination
  
Palmar Sur Airport

Location
  
Cerro Cedral

SANSA Flight 32 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Site
  
Cerro Cedral, Costa Rica

Summary
  
Controlled flight into terrain

Similar
  
1990 Wayne County Ai, Philippine Airlines Flight 143, Northwest Airlines Flight 5, Indian Airlines Flight 605, Alitalia Flight 404

SANSA Flight 32, a CASA C-212 Aviocar on its way to Palmar Sur Airport crashed into the Cerro Cedral, a mountain in Costa Rica after takeoff from Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose on January 15, 1990. All 20 passengers and 3 crew on board died in the crash. Pilot fatigue was determined to be the cause. At the time, it was the worst accident involving a CASA C-212 Aviocar and is currently the fifth worst accident. It is also currently the second worst accident in Costa Rica.

Contents

Accident sequence

SANSA Flight 32 took off from Juan Santamaria International Airport at 08:25 local time and was cleared to climb to 5500 feet. Soon after the crew received another instruction to climb to 8500 feet. Midway through the climb, the aircraft flew into Cerro Cedral at 7200 feet, killing all on board.

Investigation

The investigation found that the main cause of the accident was the failure to comply with the proposed flight plan discussed with air traffic control, which would have led the aircraft to be flying under IMC conditions instead of VFR ones. Supporting factors include the lack of a Ground Proximity Warning System, pilot fatigue and a lack of a flight safety program in SANSA.

References

SANSA Flight 32 Wikipedia