Caracas - Santa Barbara

On January 10, 1991 at 06:00 PM, Caracas - Santa Barbara experienced a crash involving Casa 212 Aviocar, operated by Venezuelan Navy - Armada Venezolana, with the event recorded near Mérida Mérida.

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

23 people were known to be on board, 22 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 95.7%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 20, passenger fatalities: 19, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. A twin engine training plane operated by the Venezuelan Navy crashed few days ago. One pilot was killed while the second escaped with minor injuries. Funerals were organized by the Armada Venezolana and a Casa 212 was chartered to carry the coffin to Santa Barbara. On board were soldiers, officers, friends and family members of the deceased pilot. En route, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and was cleared by ATC to divert to Mérida-Alberto Carnevalli Airport. Few minutes later, while cruising in clouds, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located 55 km from Mérida Airport. A passenger was injured while 22 other occupants were killed. The passenger who survived was the second pilot on the first accident few days ago. He survived two crashes in a week.

Aircraft reference details include registration ARV-0209, MSN 264, year of manufacture 1982.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 38.9133°, -6.3573°.