San Antonio del Tachira – Maiquetía

On March 9, 1961 at 12:00 AM, San Antonio del Tachira – Maiquetía experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Linea Aeropostal Venezolana - LAV, with the event recorded near Páramo de Turmal Trujillo.

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

12 people were known to be on board, 12 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 8, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft departed San Antonio del Tachira Airport at 1230LT for a 2 hours and 45 minutes flight to Maiquetía-Simon Bolivar Airport. En route, while cruising in poor weather conditions, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near Páramo de Turmal. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 12 occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, the airplane was not following the assigned route due to navigation error on part of the crew.

Aircraft reference details include registration YV-C-AZQ, MSN 19986, year of manufacture 1944.