Río Gallegos – Ushuaia

On November 21, 1979 at 02:30 PM, Río Gallegos – Ushuaia experienced a crash involving IAI Arava 201, operated by Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Argentinas - YPFA, with the event recorded near Puerto Williams Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena.

The flight was categorized as executive/corporate/business and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

8 people were known to be on board, 8 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 5, passenger fatalities: 5, other fatalities: 0.

The airplane departed Río Gallegos on a special flight to Ushuaia, carrying five members of the YPF and Hidronor Company who were completing visits of local oil fields. An ILS approach to Ushuaia Airport was initiated from the southeast. While descending, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when the airplane struck a hilly terrain and crashed about 20 km southeast of Ushuaia, about 25 km west of Puerto Williams, on Chilean territory. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed. Crew: Roberto Couceiro, pilot, Vicente Sanz, copilot, Guillermo Pérez, flight engineer. Passengers: Raúl Agustín Ondarts, Carlos maria Sureda, Guillermo Zubarán, Luis Amílcar Medina, Osvaldo Rubén Zenobi.

Aircraft reference details include registration LV-MRX, MSN 54, year of manufacture 1979.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -54.9344°, -67.6069°.