Los Roques – Caracas

On August 16, 2009 at 06:06 PM, Los Roques – Caracas experienced a crash involving Britten-Norman Islander, operated by Islas Aviation Services, with the event recorded near Caracas-Maiquetía-Simón Bolívar Vargas.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

10 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 10 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: 9, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The twin engine airplane departed Los Roques on a charter flight to Caracas with nine passengers and one pilot on board. While approaching Caracas-Maiquetía-Simón Bolívar Airport, at a distance of about 13 km, the pilot was cleared to descend to 1,500 feet where he completed two circuits. After being cleared to descend to 1,000 feet, he flew two other circuits as he was n°7 on approach. While descending at an altitude of 600 feet, both engines failed simultaneously. The pilot ditched the aircraft some 4 km off the airport. All 10 occupants were rescued, among them three were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration YV212T, MSN 171, year of manufacture 1970.