1947 Avianca Douglas DC-4 crash

1947 Avianca Douglas DC-4 crash
An Avianca DC-4, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date15 February 1947 (1947-02-15)
SummaryCFIT due to pilot/navigation error
Site
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas DC-4
OperatorAvianca
RegistrationC-114
Flight originErnesto Cortissoz International Airport, Barranquilla
DestinationTecho International Airport, Bogotá
Passengers49
Crew4
Fatalities53
Survivors0

On 15 February 1947, an Avianca Douglas DC-4, operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport to Techo International Airport, Colombia, crashed into a mountain two hours into its flight, killing all 53 occupants on board. At the time, it was both the deadliest aviation accident in Colombia and the deadliest worldwide involving a commercial aircraft.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was Douglas DC-4 registered as C-114.[1] It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp engines.[2] Avianca, the operator of the aircraft, was at the time the Colombian subsidiary of Pan Am.[3]

Passengers and crew

The aircraft was carrying 49 passengers and 4 crew members.[4] The crew consisted of captain Kenneth Newton Poe and first officer Roy Kaye who was also acting as a radio operator – both of whom were Americans, [4] and flight attendants Aida Chufji from Costa Rica and Carlos Rodríguez.[2]

Among the passengers were high-ranking executives of the Colombia's oil companies. These included a British citizen and five American executives of Tropical Oil Company – a then-subsidiary of Imperial Oil Company of Canada, Texas Petroleum and United Artists, as well as a Canadian and a Frenchman who were both executives of Tropical Oil Company.[2] Also on board was a Colombian attorney for Tropical Oil Company,[3] and Colombian footballer Romelio Martínez and his son.[2]

Aftermath

Four hours after the crash, Colombia's Ministry of War informed Techo International Airport of the accident after a delay. According to the mayor of Supatá, a farmer who had witnessed the crash reported that he had seen "...a crash of shattered metal and an explosion like something from another world."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Partington, David, ed. (1992). "Casualty Compendium" (PDF). Aviation World. No. 1. Air-Britain. p. 54. ISSN 0262-4923. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Quiroz Otero, Ciro A. (27 February 2026). "La tragedia en El Tablazo, en 1947, el accidente en el que falleció Romelio Martínez" [The tragedy in El Tablazo, in 1947, the accident in which Romelio Martínez died]. Zona Cero (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "50 Persons Killed In Worst Air Crash Of Aviation History". The Pittsburgh Press. Vol. 63, no. 235. Bogotá, Colombia. United Press. 16 February 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 31 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Searchers Take Bodies From Worst Commercial Air Crash". Kitsap Sun. Vol. 46, no. 271. Bogotá, Colombia. United Press. 17 February 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 31 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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