Prinair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prinair was Puerto Rico's domestic and international airline for 3 decades.
Service started in 1966, under the name Aerolineas de Ponce. The initial services were from Mercedita Airport in Ponce to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (then known as Isla Verde International Airport) in San Juan. The company's name was changed to Prinair the following year (Puerto Rico INternational AIR lines).
The airline used Heron reciprocating aircraft for its services. The livery reminded the public of Braniff International Airways because of the many different colors used. During the 1970s, expansion saw the airline start services to Opa Locka, a Florida location close to Miami, Santo Domingo, the Virgin Islands, Martinique, Barbados, Puerto Plata, and many other Caribbean destinations, as well as Vieques, Mayagüez, Culebra and Aguadilla on the domestic side.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
Prinair suffered 2 fatal accidents (including flight 191) that took away some of the public's trust in the airline. The first was while landing at Mercedita Airport in Ponce, which resulted in the death of all 9 passengers. The second accident, occurred in Santurce, a district in San Juan near Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, which resulted in the death of all passengers aboard, and 4 casualties on the ground. One of the injured individuals was Luciano Rivera, who was a mechanic who became a news celebrity after the crash.
In the 1980s Prinair introduced service with the larger and more capable Convair turbo props. This provided the plane spotter at San Juan with another interesting airplane to look out for, but did little for the airline, although it did help increase the earnings from the Virgin Islands routes. Increased competition for these routes in the shape of Aero Virgin Islands and Oceanair, plus some distrust from the public that still had not forgotten the fatal crashes, caused Prinair to cease operations in November, 1984.
