1998 Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737 crash

1998 Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737 crash
The aircraft involved in the accident while still in operation with TAP Air Portugal in 1986
Accident
Date5 May 1998 (1998-05-05)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain on approach during bad weather
Site
  • Three kilometers from Andoas, Peru
  • 2°46′41″S 76°30′07″W / 2.778°S 76.502°W / -2.778; -76.502
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-282
OperatorOccidental Petroleum
RegistrationFAP-351
Flight originCoronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport, Iquitos
DestinationAlférez FAP Alfredo Vladimir Sara Bauer Airport, Andoas
Occupants88
Passengers80
Crew8
Fatalities75
Survivors13

The 1998 Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737 crash occurred on May 5, 1998 a Boeing 737-200, leased from the Fuerza Aérea del Perú (Peruvian Air Force) and servicing a charter flight for Occidental Petroleum, crashed in rainy weather while on approach to Andoas, a town in Peru close to the border with Ecuador, killing 75 people on board; eleven passengers and two crew members survived.[1]

Flight history

The plane had been acquired along with another 737 as part of government plans to increase so-called "civic flights" to serve remote and poorly served regions, towns and cities, as well as to address seasonal seating capacity. More controversially, it may have been acquired to complement or compete with private airlines during periods of intense competition and high demand for air travel in Peru. In the 1990s, several established and short-lived low cost airlines were engaged in a "fare war" that followed the deregulation of Peru's commercial aviation sector, which itself occurred during the context of the economic liberalization period of President Alberto Fujimori after the country's 1980s crisis.[2]

Crash

The aircraft crashed around 21:30 local time while on an NDB approach to Alférez FAP Alfredo Vladimir Sara Bauer Airport at Andoas. The aircraft crashed three miles (4.8 km; 2.6 nmi) short of Andoas.[3] It was scheduled to arrive at Andoas at 21:17 local time.[1]

Medical teams were delayed more than a day in reaching the crash site due to poor weather, with the survivors being carried on stretchers in torrential rain to a medical post in Andoas because the weather prevented their evacuation by helicopter.[4] Later, a Peruvian Air Force Boeing 737 rescue aircraft flew to Andoas, carrying a medical team, crash experts and police investigators.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/1998/02/angst-up-in-the-andes/
  3. ↑ "13 survivors found from crash". Ellensburg Daily Record. 6 May 1998. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 "24 still missing, presumed dead in Peru crash". CNN. 7 May 1998. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2014.