Guatemala City – Santa Catalina la Tinta – Puerto Barrios

On May 24, 1956 at 10:20 AM, Guatemala City – Santa Catalina la Tinta – Puerto Barrios experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Aviateca, with the event recorded near Panzós Alta Verapaz.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

31 people were known to be on board, 30 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 96.8%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 28, passenger fatalities: 27, other fatalities: 0.

While cruising at an altitude of 10,000 feet in poor weather conditions, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located in the Sierra de las Minas, about 20 km south of Panzós. Hours were necessary for the rescuers to reach the crash site. Five passengers were seriously injured while all 26 other occupants were killed. Four of the survivors died from their injuries in the following days.

Aircraft reference details include registration TG-AHA, MSN 6052, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 15.3232°, -89.6686°.