Posadas - Buenos Aires

On October 10, 1997 at 10:10 PM, Posadas - Buenos Aires experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-9, operated by Austral Lineas Aéreas, with the event recorded near Nuevo Berlin Río Negro.

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

74 people were known to be on board, 74 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 69, passenger fatalities: 69, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft departed Posadas-Libertador General José de San Martín Airport at 2118LT on a regular scheduled flight to Buenos Aires, carrying 69 passengers and five crew members. While cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet, weather conditions deteriorated with cumulonimbus reported till 49,000 feet, stormy weather, icing conditions and severe turbulences with winds up to 80 km/h and an OAT of -59° C. The crew modified his route and entered the Montevideo FIR without contacting Montevideo ATC. At 2204LT, the aircraft entered an area with severe icing conditions and three minutes later, the copilot (pilot-in-command) initiated a descent without prior permission. Meanwhile, the captain contacted Ezeiza Control, requesting permission to descend. Ezeiza Control radioed that the flight was over Uruguay territory and that they needed to contact Montevideo Control for permission. At 2209:17, Montevideo ATC cleared the crew to descend to FL257, an altitude reached at 2210:25. During the descent the first officer complained that his airspeed indicator did not seem to be working correctly. Descending through FL300, the first officer extended the slats. The pilots were trained to extend slats when recovering from approach to stall situations at 10,000 - 12,000 feet. However, the actual airspeed at the time of extension was higher than permitted. This exceeded the design limit, causing an asymmetry. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a near vertical attitude in an open field located about 21 km east of Nuevo Berlin. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 74 occupants were killed. At the point of impact, a cratere of 10 metres deep by 30 metres wide was found. The accident was not survivable. It was reported that that the airspeed suddenly increased from 200 knots to 450 knots in four seconds, probably after the Pitot tubes got iced.

Aircraft reference details include registration LV-WEG, MSN 47446, year of manufacture 1969.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -32.9796°, -58.0508°.