Mérida – Caracas

On December 15, 1950 at 12:40 PM, Mérida – Caracas experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by AVENSA - Aerovias Venezolanas, with the event recorded near Páramo Las Siete Lagunas Mérida.

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

31 people were known to be on board, 31 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 28, passenger fatalities: 28, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was performing a charter flight from Mérida to Caracas, carrying 27 students from the San José College of Mérida and one teacher. The airplane took off at 1213LT and six minutes later, the captain informed ground he was flying in the Chama Valley. About half an hour later, while cruising at an altitude of 2,800 meters, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in Páramo Las Siete Lagunas, about 70 km northeast of the Mérida Airport. The wreckage was spotted at the end of the afternoon and all 31 occupants were killed. Crew: Jesús Power Troconis, pilot, Roberto Suprani Marotta, copilot, Consuelo Flores, flight engineer. Passengers: Juan Ignacio Aranguren, José Vicente Fernández, Miguel Antonio Olivé, Harald Beer, Omar José Gonzalo, Francisco de Sales Roche, Alfredo Bello, Eduardo Götz Römer, Julio Seco, Jon Berecibar, Carlos Hernández, Alexis Senior, Jesús Alberto Calvo, Gorka de Ibargüen, Ronald Senior, Jesús Guillermo Carvallo, Francisco Javier López Pacheco, Alfredo Suárez Cárdenas, Fernando Correa, José Ignacio López Pacheco, Alfonso Suárez Mujica, Alfredo Delfino, Roberto Matute Burguera, Arístides Suárez Mujica, Giorgio De Zordo, Freddy Morrison, Hernado Sucre, Luis Rafael Oramas.

Aircraft reference details include registration YV-C-AVU, MSN 4432, year of manufacture 1942.