LANSA Flight 502

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence

| image = Lockheed L-188 Electra, Braniff International Airways JP6982155.jpg

| alt =

| caption = The aircraft involved seen in 1965, while still flying with Braniff International Airways.

| image_upright = 1.15

| occurrence_type = Accident

| date = {{start date|1970|08|09}}

| summary = Pilot error due to mishandled engine failure caused by inadequate maintenance

| site = San Jerónimo, near Quispiquilla Airport, Cusco, Peru

| coordinates = {{coord|13|32|16.36|S|71|57|57.73|W|region:PE-MT_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} (approx.)

| total_fatalities = 101

| total_injuries = 1

| aircraft_type = Lockheed L-188A Electra

| aircraft_name = Tupac Amaru

| operator = Líneas Aéreas Nacionales S. A. (Peru)

| tail_number = OB-R-939

| origin = Quispiquilla Airport, Cusco, Peru

| stopover =

| stopover0 =

| last_stopover =

| destination = Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Peru

| passengers = 92

| crew = 8

| fatalities = 99

| injuries = 1

| missing =

| survivors = 1

| ground_fatalities = 2

| occupants = 100

}}

LANSA Flight 502 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra operated by Líneas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anónima (LANSA) which crashed shortly after takeoff from Quispiquilla Airport near Cusco, Peru, on August 9, 1970, after losing all power from one of its four engines.{{cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|date=|title=Accident record|url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/331043|access-date=2009-06-18|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network}} The turboprop airliner, registered OB-R-939, was bound from Cusco to Lima, carrying 8 crew and 92 passengers. All but one of the occupants died from injuries sustained from impact forces and post-crash fire. Two people on the ground were also killed. There were 49 American high school exchange students on board, all of whom perished.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=LANSA 502 accident victims website|url=http://www.august91970.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060105162526/http://www.august91970.com/|archive-date=2006-01-05|access-date=2009-06-18|website=www.august91970.com}} A Peruvian government investigation concluded that the accident was caused by improper execution of engine-out procedures by the flight crew and lack of proper maintenance. LANSA was fined and its operations were suspended for 90 days. At the time, the crash was the deadliest ever in Peruvian history before being surpassed by Faucett Perú Flight 251 in 1996.{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|date=|title=Peru air safety profile|url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/country/country.php?id=OB|access-date=2021-02-15|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network}}

Background

More than half of the passengers belonged to a single group, sponsored by the Buffalo, New York, based International Fellowship student exchange program, consisting of 49 American high school exchange students, along with their teachers, family members, and guides, who were returning after a visit to the nearby Machu Picchu to their host families in the Lima area. The daughter of the mayor of Lima was also accompanying the group.{{cite news|last=Maidenberg|first=H.J.|date=August 10, 1970|title=99 on airliner die in crash in Peru; 54 are from U.S.|work=The New York Times|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E16FE3B5C1B7493C2A81783D85F448785F9|access-date=|issn=0362-4331}} The Peruvian passengers included a couple on their honeymoon.{{Cite web |date=August 15, 1970 |title=Peru: 99 People Killed in Air Crash |url=http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1970/08/15/BGY507270168/?s=BGY507270168 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719185608/http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1970/08/15/BGY507270168/?s=BGY507270168 |archive-date=2011-07-19 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=itnsource.com}}

File:Cuzco-Boardi2.jpg

August 9, 1970, was a Sunday, and Flight 502 was originally scheduled to depart Cuzco at 8:30 am,{{cite web |title=1968 LANSA Flight Timetable |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/il2.htm |access-date=2009-06-18 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}Note that LANSA 1968 flight timetable shows 10:15 am as 'daily' departure time of Flight 502 from Cuzco to Lima, although NYT article reports it was scheduled as 08:30 am for flight 502. but since many of the members of the American group wanted to visit the nearby Pisac native handicraft market prior to leaving for Lima, the airline postponed the departure time to 2:45 pm.{{cite news|last=|first=|date=August 13, 1970|title=Peru Panel Studies Crash Fatal to 99|work=The New York Times|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0913F83C5B137A93C1A81783D85F448785F9&scp=1&sq=&st=p|access-date=|issn=0362-4331}}

Quispiquilla Airport, since renamed to Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, is located about {{convert|3|mi|km|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} east-southeast of the city of Cusco, in a small valley high on the Andes, at an elevation of {{convert|10860|ft|m|sigfig=3|order=flip}} above mean sea level.{{cite web|url=http://www.gcmap.com/airport/CUZ|title=CUZ - Cuzco, Perú - Velazco Astete |publisher=Great Circle Mapper|access-date=2011-01-26}} Higher mountainous terrain surrounds the single east-west runway airport in all directions. Since it was August, it was winter time in Peru, as in the rest of the southern hemisphere.

Crash

File:Cuzco-Pano edit.jpg

At about 2:55 pm, the four-engine Electra turboprop began its takeoff run to the west. At some point during the takeoff run or initial climb, the number three engineNumber three engine is inboard, right side. failed and caught fire. The crew continued the takeoff and climb, per standard procedure, using power from the remaining three engines. The pilot radioed the control tower declaring an emergency, and the control tower cleared the flight for an immediate landing. The number three engine was engulfed in flames as the crew incorrectly retracted the flaps and maneuvered the plane into a left turn back to the runway. The plane entered a 30–45 degree bank, then rapidly lost altitude and crashed into hilly terrain about {{convert|1.5|mi|km|sigfig=2|order=flip}} west-southwest of the runway, above the village of San Jerónimo. The fuel on board caught fire and all aboard perished except the copilot, 26-year-old Juan Loo,{{cite web|last=|first=|year=2010|title=Plane Crashes with a Sole Survivor|url=http://www.airsafe.com/events/survivor.htm|access-date=15 May 2010|website=airsafe.com|quote=}} who was found in the wreckage of the cockpit badly burned but alive. Two farm workers were killed on the ground.

Investigation and aftermath

File:LANSA Flight 502 map.png

The crash was investigated by the Peruvian government, which published a Final Report on 3 September 1970. The report concluded that the accident was caused by failure of the number 3 engine immediately after takeoff, followed by failure of the flight crew to properly execute the appropriate engine-out procedures, which led to the crash. There was also evidence of failure by LANSA to perform proper maintenance on the aircraft, which could have prevented the engine failure.{{Cite web |date=1973-08-31 |title=INFORME FINAL, ACCIDENTE DE AVIACIÓN, COMPAÑÍA LÍNEAS AÉREAS NACIONALES S.A. (LANSA) LOCKHEED ELECTRA, MATRÍCULA OB-R-939, 4.5 KM AL ESTE DEL AEROPUERTO DE CUZCO, CUZCO – PERÚ, 09 DE AGOSTO DE 1970 |trans-title=FINAL REPORT, AVIATION ACCIDENT, NATIONAL AIRLINES COMPANY S.A. (LANSA) LOCKHEED ELECTRA, REGISTRATION OB-R-939, 4.5 KM EAST OF CUZCO AIRPORT, CUZCO – PERU, AUGUST 9, 1970 |url=https://cdn.www.gob.pe/uploads/document/file/3296761/OB-R-939%20%2811AGO1970%29.pdf.pdf?v=1656348883 |access-date=2023-06-07 |publisher=Ministry of Transport and Communications |language=es}}From Final Report (in Spanish): "...Acción operativa indebida al retractar el flap de ala después del decollaje, procedimiento en que había sido instruido el piloto, lo que impidió que el avión en la configuración en que se encontraba: tres motores operativos, peso bruto cerca al máximo autorizado y temperatura ambiente alta, adoptara un régimen de ascenso suficiente en relación con la gradiente del suelo, para alcanzar una altura sobre el terreno que permitiera la maniobra con seguridad para regresar de inmediato al Aeropuerto... [English: ...Improper operational action by retracting the wing flap after taking off, a procedure in which the pilot had been instructed, which prevented the aircraft in the configuration it was in: three operational engines, gross weight close to the maximum authorized and high ambient temperature, adopt a rate of climb sufficient in relation to the gradient of the ground, to reach a height above the ground that would allow the maneuver safely to return immediately to the airport...]" Key points: improper retraction of flaps and failure to maintain terrain clearance.

The Peruvian government subsequently fined LANSA and some of its employees, and suspended the airline's operating license for 90 days as a consequence.{{Cite news |date=1970-09-04 |title=Peruvian Line Suspended |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/117942250|access-date=2023-06-26 |issn=0362-4331|id={{ProQuest|117942250}} }}

Approximately a year after the suspension ended, the airline lost its last working aircraft with the crash of LANSA Flight 508, and ceased operations.{{Cite web |first= |date=18 May 1972 |title=World Airlines |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201291.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222091708/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%2 |archive-date=2015-02-22 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=Flight International |page=31}} Since LANSA began operations in 1963 until its demise in 1972, three of its flights ended in a fatal crash: LANSA 501, 502 and 508, with a total of 241 fatalities.{{Cite web |title=Lineas Aéreas Nacionales S.A. - LANSA |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/operators/5829 |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=aviation-safety.net}}Fatality count (flight): 49 (501), 101 (502) and 91 (508)

About a year after the accident, a monument—a large white cross with an attached nameplate—was erected on the spot of the crash site to commemorate the victims of LANSA flight 502. In 2006, because of encroaching development, the Peruvian owner of the land where the memorial was originally located, under pressure from the U.S. Senator from New York, Charles E. Schumer, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Consulate General in Peru, agreed to relocate the memorial {{cvt|150|ft||order=flip}} away to protect the site.{{cite press release|last=|first=|date=August 22, 2006|title=Schumer Announces Peruvian Memorial For Plane Crash Victims Will Be Moved To Safe Location|url=http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=261952&|access-date=2009-06-17|website=|publisher=U.S. Senate|archive-date=2009-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528053911/http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=261952&|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Phil |date=October 22, 2013 |title=Togetherness and a Plane Crash |url=https://record.goshen.edu/opinion/togetherness-and-a-plane-crash |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=The Record |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.oaksandcompass.com/2015/09/family-history-in-peru/|title=Family History in Peru|date=2015-09-28|website=oaks + compass|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-25}}

Notes

References

External links

[http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08091970®=OB-R939&airline=Lineas+Aereas+Nacionales Air Disaster Accident Record] ([https://archive.today/20121209025639/http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08091970®=OB-R939&airline=Lineas+Aereas+Nacionales Archive])
[http://www.august91970.com/ Accident website] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060105162526/http://www.august91970.com/ Archive])
[http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/195242 The crash monument as it appeared in January 2017]

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Peru

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1970

Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed L-188 Electra

502

Category:August 1970 in South America

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure

Category:1970 in Peru

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors

Category:1970 disasters in Peru