Passengers 148 Survivors 0 Date 3 December 1972 Fatalities 155 (all) Passenger count 148 | Crew 7 Aircraft type Convair 990 Coronado Operator Spantax Survivor 0 | |
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Summary Loss of control after/during take-off Site Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport Destination Munich-Riem Airport (MUC/EDDM) Similar Iberia Airlines Flight 602, Sterling Airways Flight 296, Japan Airlines Flight 446, 1972 Königs Wusterha, Aeroflot Flight 1491 | ||
Spantax Flight 275 was a Convair 990 Coronado charter flight operated by Spantax with 148 passengers and 7 crew flying from Tenerife to Munich on December 3, 1972. The plane crashed while taking off from Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, killing everyone aboard. Many of the passengers were West German tourists heading home.
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Accident
The flight took off at 06:45am in almost zero visibility and crashed shortly after, 325 metres (1,066 ft) beyond the runway. At an altitude of 91 m (300 ft), the aircraft had initiated a steep turn. The pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed as a result of this unusual maneuver plus the crew's loss of situational awareness in the low visibility conditions. All 155 people aboard were killed.
At the time, it was the deadliest aircraft crash on the island of Tenerife, but was surpassed by the Tenerife airport disaster five years later. This was the eighth loss and the deadliest accident involving a Convair 990 Coronado.
Aircraft
The accident aircraft was a Convair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado. It had been in service since 1962, and had flown for a total of 10 years. The registration number of the aircraft was EC-BZR. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and was written off.