Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428

Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428

A Sol Líneas Aéreas Saab 340, similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident summary
Date 18 May 2011 (2011-05-18)
Type Under investigation - airframe icing suspected
Site Prahuaniyeu, Río Negro, Argentina
Passengers 19
Crew 3
Fatalities 22 (all)
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Saab 340A
Operator Sol Líneas Aéreas
Tail number LV-CEJ
Flight origin Ingeniero Aeronáutico Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International Airport, Córdoba, Argentina
Stopover Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport, Mendoza, Argentina
2nd stopover Presidente Perón International Airport, Neuquén, Argentina
Destination General Enrique Mosconi International Airport, Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina

Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428 was a passenger flight which crashed in Prahuaniyeu, Río Negro Province, Argentina, on 18 May 2011. All 22 aboard died. The aircraft involved, a Saab 340A, was operating Sol Líneas Aéreas' scheduled domestic service from Ingeniero Aeronáutico Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International Airport, Córdoba, to General Enrique Mosconi International Airport, Comodoro Rivadavia, with stopovers at Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport, Mendoza, and Presidente Perón International Airport, Neuquén. The crash occured on the final leg, with the aircraft coming down 25 kilometres (16 mi) south-west of the town of Los Menucos, Río Negro.[1][2][3][4][5][6][5][7][8][9] A peliminary report suggests it was caused by severe icing of the airframe.

The flight crew declared an emergency at 8:50 pm (UTC−03:00). Local people located at around 2 km away from the crash site saw an airplane flying extremely low. A few moments later they heard explosions and noticed black smoke coming from the ground, which suggested an accident had occurred.[10] Firefighters arrived at the scene three hours later, finding no survivors.[11][12] The blackbox was located the following day near the crash site.[13][14]

Contents

Passengers

One of the passengers was a child, while the rest were adults.[15] Nine passengers boarded the airplane in Mendoza, nine in Neuquén, and one in Córdoba.[7] One of the passengers used a passport for identification purposes at the check-in desk, while the rest used Argentine Documento Nacional de Identidad (DNI) identity documents.[16] All of the passengers had Comodoro Rivadavia as their final destination, except for one of them, who flew from Córdoba to Mendoza.[17]

Aircraft

The plane involved in the accident was a 26-year old Saab 340A. It made its first flight on 25 April 1985. On 30 May 1985, it was delivered to Comair and registered N344CA. On 1 February 1997, it became N112PX with Northwest Express. It retained the same registration when it went to the Puertorican carrier Fina Air on 17 July 2003, and later on, when it went to fly for RegionsAir on 25 May 2006. The airplane was stored by this latter airline in March 2007 before being bought by Sol Líneas Aéreas on 30 July 2010.[18]

Investigation

Argentina's Junta de Investigaciones de Accidentes de Aviación Civil (JIAAC) opened an investigation into the accident. In September 2011, a preliminary report was issued which stated that the cause of the accident was a stall due to severe airframe icing, and subsequent loss of control. The information in the preliminary report is subject to change before a final report is issued.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Sol Líneas Aéreas Informa" (Press Release #1). Sol Líneas Aéreas. Retrieved on 19 May 2011.
  2. ^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.
  3. ^ Perry Flint (19 May 2011). "22 killed in Argentine plane crash". Air Transport World. http://atwonline.com/operations-maintenance/news/22-killed-argentine-plane-crash-0519. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  4. ^ "Timeline: Worst air accidents in Argentina". Buenos Aires Herald. 19 May 2011. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/67564/timeline-worst-air-accidents-in-argentina. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  5. ^ a b "Tragedia aérea en la Patagonia: hay 22 muertos, entre ellos un bebé [Air tragedy in the Patagonia: a baby is counted among the 22 deaths]" (in Spanish). infobae.com. 19 May 2011. http://www.infobae.com/notas/582455-Tragedia-aerea-en-la-Patagonia-hay-22-muertos-entre-ellos-un-bebe.html. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  6. ^ "Argentina plane crash kills all 22 people on board". BBC News. 19 May 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13451332. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  7. ^ a b "Passenger list of flight SOL5428". Buenos Aires Herald. 19 May 2011. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/67555/passenger-list-of-flight-sol5428--. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  8. ^ "Mueren 22 personas al estrellarse un avión en el sur de Argentina [22 people die after an aircraft crash in southern Argentina]" (in Spanish). El País. EFE. 19 May 2011. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Mueren/22/personas/estrellarse/avion/sur/Argentina/elpepuintlat/20110519elpepuint_5/Tes. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  9. ^ "Argentine plane crash kills 22". USA Today. Associated Press. 19 May 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-05-19-argentina-plane-crash_n.htm?csp=34news. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  10. ^ ""Escuché cinco explosiones después del impacto en la tierra" ["I heard five explosions after the crash"]" (in Spanish). infobae.com. 20 May 2011. http://www.infobae.com/notas/582715-El-testigo-del-accidente-Escuche-cinco-explosiones-despues-del-impacto-en-tierra.html. Retrieved 29 May 2011. 
  11. ^ Warren, Michael. "Argentina: Patagonia Plane Crash Kills 22." Associated Press at TIME. Thursday 19 May 2011. Retrieved on Thursday 19 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Tragedia en Río Negro: cayó un avión con 22 personas y no hay sobrevivientes." Clarín. 19 May 2011. Retrieved on 19 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Authorities locate Flight 5428's black box at the crash site". Buenos Aires Herald. 19 May 2011. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/67516/authorities-locate-flight-5428s-black-box-at-the-crash-site. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  14. ^ "PLANE CRASH IN ARGENTINIAN PATAGONIA, 22 PASSENGERS DEAD". Agenzia Giornalistica Italia. 19 May 2011. http://www.agi.it/english-version/world/elenco-notizie/201105190753-cro-ren1005-plane_crash_in_argentinian_patagonia_22_passengers_dead. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  15. ^ Nelson Quinones (19 May 2011). "Plane crash kills 22 in Argentina". CNN News. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/19/argentina.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=Sbin. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  16. ^ "Press Release #3" (Archive). Sol Líneas Aéreas. Retrieved on 19 May 2011.
  17. ^ "La afortunada pasajera que se bajó del avión antes del accidente [The fortunate passenger that got down from the aircraft before the accident]" (in Spanish). infobae.com. 19 May 2011. http://www.infobae.com/notas/582500-La-afortunada-pasajera-que-se-bajo-del-avion-antes-del-accidente.html. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 
  18. ^ "Operators of the aircraft". Airfleets.net. http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-sf3-25.htm. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  19. ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Sol SF34 near Los Menucos on May 18th 2011, severe icing, stall, loss of control". The Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=43cca6ed/0000&opt=0. Retrieved 5 September 2011. 

External links

Argentina portal
Aviation portal
Disasters portal