LANSA Flight 508
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 Juliane Köpcke, sole survivor of LANSA Flight 508, sitting among the wreckage in the Peruvian jungle[1]
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 24, 1971 |
| Type | Pilot error, Lightning strike |
| Site | Puerto Inca, Peru |
| Passengers | 86 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Fatalities | 91 |
| Survivors | 1 |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed Electra L-188A |
| Operator | Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima |
| Tail number | OB-R-941 |
LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed Electra L-188A turboprop, registered OB-R-941, operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA), that crashed in a thunderstorm enroute from Lima, Peru to Pucallpa, Peru, on December 24, 1971, killing 91 people – all of its 6 crew and 86 of its 87 passengers.[2] The sole survivor was a 17 year old girl, who fell 2 miles (3 km) down into the Amazon rainforest strapped to her seat and remarkably survived the fall, and was then able to walk through the jungle for 10 days until she was rescued by local lumbermen.[3]
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[edit] Flight history
LANSA Flight 508 departed Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport just before noon on Christmas Eve, on its way to Iquitos, Peru with a scheduled stop at Pucallpa, Peru. The aircraft was flying at Flight Level 210 (about 21,000 ft / 6,400 m above Mean Sea Level) when it encountered an area of thunderstorms and severe turbulence. There was evidence the crew decided to continue the flight despite the hazardous weather ahead, apparently due to pressures related to meeting the holiday schedule.[4][5]
At about 12:36 p.m. local time, a lightning strike ignited the fuel tank in the right wing, which quickly led to structural failure of the aircraft. As the plane disintegrated, a 17 year old German teenager, Juliane Margaret Koepcke, fell down into the Amazon rainforest 2 miles (3 km) below, strapped to her seat. Despite sustaining a broken collar bone and an eye injury in the fall, she was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 10 days, until she was rescued by local lumbermen, who subsequently took her by canoe back to civilization. It was later discovered that as many as 14 other passengers also survived the initial fall from the disintegrated plane, but were unable to seek help and died while awaiting rescue.[5]
[edit] Accident investigation
Peruvian investigators determined the following sequence of events leading to the accident:[2][3]
"About forty minutes after take-off, the aircraft entered a zone of strong turbulence and lightning. After flying for twenty minutes in this weather at FL210 lightning struck the aircraft, causing fire on the right wing which separated, along with part of the left wing. The aircraft crashed in flames into mountainous terrain."
The final summary of the cause of the accident was:[4]
"The aircraft suffered a lightning strike, which led to a fire and the separation of the right wing. Intentional flight into hazardous weather conditions."
[edit] Koepcke's survival
Juliane Koepcke was a high school senior studying in Lima, intending to become a zoologist, like her father, Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke. Her mother, Maria Koepcke, a leading Peruvian ornithologist, was traveling with Juliane from Lima to meet the father who was working in Pucallpa.
When Koepcke landed in the jungle, still strapped to her seat, she had a broken collar bone and an eye injury. She had learned survival skills from her father and was able to follow a small stream until she came to a loggers camp, where she was rescued and returned to Pucallpa.
Koepcke's survival was featured in a television documentary film called Wings of Hope in 2000 by director Werner Herzog,[6] who narrowly missed being on Flight 508 himself.
[edit] See also
- LANSA Cuzco Crash
- Pan Am Flight 214, another crash caused by lightning, which despite having fewer fatalities than this flight, is registered as of 2006 in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "worst death toll in history from a lightning strike". [7]
- List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Image taken during recreation of the accident for the film Wings of Hope.
- ^ a b Aviation Safety Net Accident Record
- ^ a b Plane Crash Accident Record
- ^ a b Accident Record on Air Disaster
- ^ a b Super70's Article. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
- ^ Wings of Hope (IMDb Record). Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
- ^ Guinness World Record for Pan Am 214, with fewer casualties than Lansa 508 (on archive.org)
