Santo Domingo - Puerto Plata
Flight / Schedule
Santo Domingo - Puerto Plata
Aircraft
Rockwell Aero Commander 500Registration
HI-535SP
MSN
500-840
Year of Manufacture
1959
Operator
Rafael PerezDate
January 28, 2001 at 08:15 AM
Type
CRASHFlight Type
Private
Flight Phase
Landing (descent or approach)
Crash Site
Mountains
Crash Location
Puerto Plata Puerto Plata
Region
Central America • Dominican Republic
Coordinates
19.7446°, -70.4178°
Crash Cause
Human factor
Narrative Report
On January 28, 2001 at 08:15 AM, Santo Domingo - Puerto Plata experienced a crash involving Rockwell Aero Commander 500, operated by Rafael Perez, with the event recorded near Puerto Plata Puerto Plata.
The flight was categorized as private and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a mountains crash site.
7 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.
Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 5, passenger fatalities: 5, other fatalities: 0.
The listed crash cause is human factor. While descending to Puerto Plata Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and limited visibility due to low clouds and fog. The twin engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Loma del Toro located few km from Puerto Plata and was destroyed. All seven occupants were killed. The crew started the approach prematurely and descended too low in poor visibility.
Aircraft reference details include registration HI-535SP, MSN 500-840, year of manufacture 1959.
Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 19.7446°, -70.4178°.
Fatalities
Total
7
Crew
2
Passengers
5
Other
0
Crash Summary
While descending to Puerto Plata Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and limited visibility due to low clouds and fog. The twin engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Loma del Toro located few km from Puerto Plata and was destroyed. All seven occupants were killed. The crew started the approach prematurely and descended too low in poor visibility.
Cause: Human factor
Occupants & Outcome
Crew On Board
2
Passengers On Board
5
Estimated Survivors
0
Fatality Rate
100.0%
Known people on board: 7
Operational Details
Schedule / Flight
Santo Domingo - Puerto Plata
Operator
Rafael PerezFlight Type
Private
Flight Phase
Landing (descent or approach)
Crash Site
Mountains
Region / Country
Central America • Dominican Republic
Aircraft Details
Similar Plane Crashes
BWIA - British West Indies Airways
Lockheed L-414 Hudson
Crashed on takeoff for unknown reason. All nine occupants were injured and the aircraft was written off.
Dominicana de Aviación
Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)
Few minutes after its departure from Santa Cruz de Barahona Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and decided to modify his route, diverting to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital city. While cruising about 20 km north of Ciudad Trujillo in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed near Yamasá. All 32 occupants were killed, among them members of the baseball team of Santiago returning home.
La Legión Caribe
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina
The seaplane was used by personnel from the Legión Caribe to take part of the invasion of the Dominican Republic. As the invasion failed, the crew attempted to flee when the aircraft was shot downy by Dominican soldiers located in a speedboat. The seaplane caught fire and sank. All four crew members were killed.
VARIG - Viação Aérea Rio Grandense
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
The aircraft arrived at Ciudad Trujillo on the morning of 16 August with No, 2 engine inoperative. It was decided to disembark the passengers there and continue the flight to New York via Miami, using only three engines, in order that the defective engine could be changed in New York. The aircraft, therefore, carrying only the crew, took off from General Andrews Airport, Ciudad Trujillo at 1516 hours with No. 2 propeller feathered. About 50 minutes after take-off, No. 4 engine propeller oversped and proved to be impossible to control or feather. It then tore free from the engine, damaging No. 3 engine propeller as it parted; No. 3 propeller was, therefore, feathered. In the meantime, No. 4 engine caught fire, and only No. 1 engine remained operative. As it was not possible to reach Ciudad Trujillo, an attempt was made to land on the road or the beach, but this failed owing to the large number of trees and the narrowness of the beach. Under these circumstances the aircraft was ditched parallel to the coast about 500 metres from it. It was considered that in carrying out the three-engined ferry flight without passengers, the operator acted in accordance with para. 6.2. 2, Part II of the ICAO International Standards and Recommended Practices, Annex 8 to the Convention, "when the State of Registry considers that the damage sustained is of a nature such that the aircraft is no longer airworthy, it shall prohibit the aircraft from resuming flight until it is restored to an airworthy condition; the State of Registry may, however, in exceptional circumstances, prescribe particular limiting conditions to permit the aircraft to fly without fare-paying passengers to an aerodrome at which it can be restored to an airworthy condition". After ditching, the aircraft sank to a depth of about 40 feet. On a second attempt the weather permitted a diving operation to be carried out, and inspection of the wreckage revealed the following in- formation: All six flap sections of the port wing were entirely separated from the aircraft. No. 1 engine propeller tore free at the time of impact, splitting the propeller shaft next to the propeller thrust bearing. No. 2 power plant was wrenched free from its nacelle and remained attached to it only by pipes and control cables. This propeller was feathered. The two inner flap sections of the starboard wing were fractured and partially detached from the aircraft. The No. 3 engine propeller also was feathered and the tip of one of its blades was broken a point 18 inches from the leading edge to 12 inches from the trailing edge. The trailing edge of the same blade also had two deep dents. Marks, apparently made by a propeller blade, were found on the right side of the No. 3 engine cowling, No. 4 engine propeller was missing but only a small part of the nose section of the No. 4 engine was broken. The diaphragm and the pitch reducing mechanism were in their original places. The fuselage was fractured and the crack extended diagonally across the main part from the front towards the right rear wall.
Dominicana de Aviación
Curtiss C-46 Commando
Flight 402 departed Ciudad Trujillo on a cargo flight to Miami, Florida, with a crew of 2 aboard and no passengers. Following take-off from Runway 23 and at a height of approximately 150 ft the aircraft fell to the left of the runway, some 300 ft from the centre line and 200 to 300 ft short of the runway end. Both crew members were killed by the impact which occurred at approximately 1016 hours GMT. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.
Air Taxi Company
Rockwell Aero Commander 500
On 16 April the aircraft departed Mehrabad Airport at 0228Z on a charter flight to Yazd and Bandar Abbas. On the same day the first stage of the return flight was made to Shiraz where an overnight stop was made. Next day EP-ABA left Shiraz at 0245Z to pick up four passengers at Marvdasht. At 0525Z it departed Marvdasht on a direct flight to Mehrabad Airport, Tehran, ETA 0800Z. A last contact was made with Esfahan at 0630Z reporting its position as 20 miles east of Esfahan - VFR, flight level 150, ETA Mehrabad 0800Z. This was the last message received from the aircraft. On 19 April word was received at Mehrabad Airport that the aircraft had crashed on the mountain 40 km south of Ardestan and 18 km west of Zafarkand Village. The pilot and four passengers were killed in the accident and the aircraft was destroyed.
