MD82, en-route, near Machiques Venezuela, 2005

MD82, en-route, near Machiques Venezuela, 2005

Summary

On 16 August 2005, the flight crew of a West Caribbean MD82 on a passenger flight from Tocumen Airport in Panama to Martinique attempted to cruise at a level which was incompatible with aircraft performance. They then failed to recognise the results of this action and when the lack of sufficient engine thrust led to an aerodynamic stall and confusion precluded a recovery before the aircraft impacted terrain at high speed out of control killing all 152 occupants.

Description

On 16 August 2005, a Boeing MD82 being operated by Colombian Company West Caribbean AW on a passenger flight from Tocumen Airport in Panama to Martinique in night IMC was unable to maintain the chosen cruise altitude and shortly after beginning a descent, control was lost and the aircraft was destroyed by impact with terrain at a high rate of descent in which all 152 occupants were killed.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Venezuelan Junta Investigadora de Accidentes de Aviación Civil (JIAAC), the national Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) (NTSB) and the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA). The latter successfully downloaded the recovered Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). However, it was found that a number of potentially useful parameters were not recorded on the FDR and due to impact damage to the CVR, the quality of its recording was poor although still usable.

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