LANSA Flight 508
{{short description|1971 aviation accident in Peru}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| image = LANSA Lockheed L-188A Electra.png
| alt =
| caption = A LANSA Lockheed L-188 Electra similar to the accident aircraft
| occurrence_type = Accident
| date = {{start date|1971|12|24|df=y}}
| summary = Crashed following a midair break-up in a thunderstorm
| site = Puerto Inca, Peru
| coordinates =
| aircraft_type = Lockheed L-188A Electra
| aircraft_name =
| operator = Líneas Aéreas Nacionales S.A.
| tail_number = OB-R-941
| origin = Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Peru
| stopover = Captain Rolden International Airport, Pucallpa, Peru
| destination = Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport, Iquitos, Peru
| passengers = 86
| crew = 6
| fatalities = 91
| injuries = 1
| survivors = 1
| occupants = 92
}}
LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA, a Peruvian airline company) that crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru on 24 December 1971, killing 91 people – all six crew on board and 85 of its 86 passengers.{{ASN accident|id=19711224-0}} It is regarded in popular retellings as the deadliest lightning strike disaster in aviation history.{{Clarify|date=April 2024|reason=It is not mentioned anywhere else in the article that lightning strike was the cause of the accident}}{{cite news |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/worst-lightning-strike-disaster-death-toll |title=Worst lightning strike disaster – death toll |work=Guinness World Records }}
Accident
{{Missing info|section|the direct cause of the crash|date=August 2024}}
LANSA Flight 508 departed Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport just before noon on Christmas Eve on its way to Iquitos, Peru, with a scheduled stop at Pucallpa. The aircraft was flying at about {{convert|21000|ft|m|order=flip}} above mean sea level when it encountered an area of thunderstorms and severe turbulence. Some evidence showed the crew decided to continue the flight despite the hazardous weather ahead, apparently because of pressure to meet the holiday schedule.{{cite web|url=http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=12241971%C2%AE=OB-R-941&airline=Lineas+Aereas+Nacionales|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233537/http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=12241971%C2%AE=OB-R-941&airline=Lineas+Aereas+Nacionales|archive-date=2007-03-10|title=Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 12241971®=OB-R-941|url-status=usurped|work=airdisaster.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Disasters/71-12-24(Lansa).asp|title=Super70's Article|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508023054/http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Disasters/71-12-24(Lansa).asp|archive-date=2017-05-08|access-date=2006-10-09}} Peruvian investigators cited "intentional flight into hazardous weather conditions" as a cause of the crash.
Victims and sole survivor
The sole survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, who while strapped to her seat fell {{cvt|3,000|m|ft|sigfig=1}} into the Amazon rainforest.{{cite news |title=Life After the Fall |author=Franz Lidz |date=June 22, 2021 |work=The New York Times |page=D1}} She survived the fall with a broken collarbone, a deep gash to her right arm, an eye injury, and concussion. She was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 10 days and found shelter in a hut. Local lumberjacks found her and took her by canoe back to civilization.{{cite book|last1=Koepcke|first1=Juliane|title=When I Fell From the Sky|date=2011|publisher=TitleTown Publishing|location=Green Bay, WI|isbn=978-0-9837547-0-1|page=67|edition= 1st English}}{{cite web|url=http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1971/1971-69.htm|title=Plane Crash Accident Record|work=planecrashinfo.com|access-date=2019-04-07|archive-date=2018-11-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117142800/http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1971/1971-69.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/02/germany.aircrash.survivor/index.html|title=Survivor still haunted by 1971 air crash|last=Pleitgen|first=Frederik|date=2 July 2009|work=CNN|access-date=30 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225140559/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/02/germany.aircrash.survivor/index.html|archive-date=25 February 2018|publisher=CNN.com|url-status=dead}} The Electra was LANSA's last aircraft; the company lost its operating permit eleven days later.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201291.html World Airlines] Flight International, p. S31, 18 May 1972
As many as 14 other passengers were also later found to have survived the crash, but died awaiting rescue, including Koepcke's mother.
In popular culture
The movie Miracles Still Happen (1974) is based on the story.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071845/|title=Miracles Still Happen (IMDb Record)|website=IMDb |access-date=2016-04-13}} Koepcke's story was also told in the documentary film Wings of Hope (1998) by director Werner Herzog, who had narrowly avoided taking the same flight, when his reservation had been canceled due to a last minute change in itinerary.{{cite book |last= Herzog |first= Werner |title= Herzog on Herzog |publisher= Faber and Faber |year= 2001 |isbn= 0-571-20708-1 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz}}{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249248/|title=Wings of Hope (IMDb Record)|website=IMDb |access-date=2006-10-09}} Koepcke's memoir {{Lang|de|Als ich vom Himmel fiel}} was published by the German publisher Piper Malik on March 10, 2011.{{cite web |url=https://www.piper.de/buecher/als-ich-vom-himmel-fiel-isbn-978-3-492-27493-7|title=Als ich vom Himmel fiel }} (The English edition, titled When I Fell From the Sky, was published by Titletown Publishing in November 2011.)
The crash also features in the final season one episode of the Discovery Channel documentary Aircrash Confidential. The episode was first aired in 2011, and features an interview with Koepcke.{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=Mathew |last2=Griffiths |first2=Alan |last3=McNab |first3=David |display-authors=etal |editor1-last=Prince |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Gilbert |editor2-first=Roy |title=Aircrash Confidential |date=2011 |publisher=MMXI World Media Rights Limited; WMR Productions; IMG Entertainment |location=Discovery Channel |edition=Extreme Weather |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2141591/ |format=TV Documentary}}
See also
{{Portal|Peru|Aviation|1970s}}
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents
- Braniff International Airways Flight 352 -- a similar wing-overload crash in the same type of aircraft caused when the crew attempted to fly through a severe thunderstorm. This incident might provide an alternative explanation of the cause for wing-separation independent of a lightning-strike, as severe turbulence caused by the storm and the crew's efforts to correct for it proved sufficient to overload the wing without prior structural damage due to fire.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/330639 Photo of Accident Aircraft on Aviation Safety Site]
- [http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200409/top_survival_stories_4.html Outside Magazine Top Survival Stories] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20050124162051/http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200409/top_survival_stories_4.html Archive])
- [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/10/Tournavista.html Tournavista, Perú] on [http://www.fallingrain.com Falling Rain]
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17476615 BBC News - Juliane Koepcke: How I survived a plane crash]
{{coord missing|Peru}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Peru}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971}}
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by lightning strikes
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Peru
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971
Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed L-188 Electra
Category:December 1971 in South America
Category:1971 disasters in Peru
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by clear air turbulence