Santiago de los Caballeros – Punta Cana

On February 7, 2008 at 05:20 PM, Santiago de los Caballeros – Punta Cana experienced a crash involving Britten-Norman Islander, operated by Caribair, with the event recorded near El Prado El Seibo.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

9 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 9 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The twin engine aircraft was completing a touristic flight from Punta Cana to Santiago de los Caballeros and back. During the return flight to Punta Cana, the pilot elected to make a fuel stop at La Romana because he failed to refuel at Santiago de los Caballeros and was aware that the left tank fuel gage was inoperative. En route, the left engine failed. The pilot elected to restart it but without success. He decided to attempt an emergency landing in a sugarcane field located in El Prado. Upon landing, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All nine occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration HI-653CA, MSN 8, year of manufacture 1967.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 18.7361°, -69.1182°.