Frankfurt – Paris – Madrid – Caracas – Bogotá

On November 27, 1983 at 01:06 AM, Frankfurt – Paris – Madrid – Caracas – Bogotá experienced a crash involving Boeing 747-200, operated by Avianca, with the event recorded near Madrid-Barajas Madrid.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

192 people were known to be on board, 181 fatalities were recorded, 11 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 94.3%.

Crew on board: 19, crew fatalities: 19, passengers on board: 173, passenger fatalities: 162, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. Following an uneventful flight from Paris-Roissy-CDG Airport, the crew was cleared to descent to Madrid-Barajas Airport runway 33. Once the altitude of 9,000 feet reached on descent, the crew was cleared to continue. At 0103LT, he was cleared to land on runway 33 and should complete a turn to the right. Following several errors on approach, the crew initiated a right turn prior to pass over the VOR, causing the aircraft to descent below the MDA. At an altitude of 2,247 feet and at a speed of 142 knots, the right main gear struck the top of a hill. Upon impact, the right main gear and the engine n°4 were torn off. Three seconds later, while in a 4,9° nose-up attitude, at a speed of 135 knots, the aircraft struck the top of a second hill. Then, six seconds later, the right wing struck the ground. The aircraft overturned and crashed upside down, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found 12 km from the runway threshold in an olive plantation. Eleven passengers (among them four members of the same family, father, mother and both children) were injured while 181 other occupants were killed, among them the Peruvian writer Manuel Scorza.

Aircraft reference details include registration HK-2910, MSN 21381, year of manufacture 1977.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 40.4574°, -3.5619°.