Melinka – Quellón

On March 1, 2012 at 12:15 PM, Melinka – Quellón experienced a crash involving Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, operated by Aerohein, with the event recorded near Quellón Región de Los Lagos.

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

8 people were known to be on board, 8 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 7, passenger fatalities: 7, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The twin engine aircraft departed Melinka Airport at 1200LT on a taxi flight to Quellón, carrying seven passengers and one pilot. Eight minutes later, the pilot reported his position at 6,500 feet some 20 NM south of the destination. Six minutes later, at 1214LT, he reported at 3,000 feet some 10 NM southwest of Quellón. Shortly later, radar and radio contacts were lost after the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain located in the Piedra Blanca Mountain Range. The wreckage was found 15 km southwest of Quellón. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all eight occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with rain, fog and strong winds.

Aircraft reference details include registration CC-CYM, MSN 31-8012016, year of manufacture 1980.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -43.1164°, -73.5715°.