| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 11 July 1983 |
| Type | CFIT, pilot error, spatial disorientation |
| Site | Cuenca, Ecuador |
| Passengers | 111 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Fatalities | 119 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737–2V2 Advanced |
| Aircraft name | Ciudad de Loja |
| Operator | TAME |
| Tail number | HC-BIG |
| Flight origin | Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Quito, Ecuador |
| Destination | Mariscal Lamar Airport, Cuenca, Ecuador |
The 1983 TAME Boeing 737-200 crash was an aviation incident in which a Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced, operated by the Ecuadorian national airline TAME, which was flying on a domestic route from Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito to Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca, crashed into a hill during final approach just one mile (1.6 km) from its final destination, killing all 119 people on board. The crash was the first and deadliest crash in the history of TAME, and it remains as the deadliest plane crash in the history of Ecuador. An investigation later determined that the flight crashed due to the flight crew's lack of experience on the aircraft type, which caused a controlled flight into terrain.
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The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced, with American-made Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 engines. When Boeing delivered it, it was registered as N8283V, but when it arrived in the TAME fleet in 1981, its registration and livery changed to HC-BIG. TAME named it "Ciudad de Loja".
On July 11, 1983, the aircraft took off from Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito for a domestic flight to Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca with 111 passengers and eight crew members. The aircraft encountered bad weather during the final approach to Mariscal Lamar Airport. The crew contacted the Cuenca control tower for permission to land the plane, which was granted. During the final few minutes of the flight, the pilots suffered from spatial disorientation, because they were preoccupied trying to find the runway in heavy fog and did not understand some of the plane's controls.
Seconds later, and one mile (1.6 km) from the airport, the crew realised that the plane was flying below the altitude given by the tower and then, in a desperate attempt to save the plane and its passengers, they put on full power and attempted a steep climb, but it was too late. The jetliner scraped a mountain peak, exploded, and slid down a ravine, coming to rest at the foot of a mountain, killing all 119 people on board instantly.
When radio contact was lost for nearly two minutes, Cuenca air traffic control declared an emergency. The next day, search aircraft and rescue workers were sent to the plane's last known position. Because of the remote area and the difficulty of access to the crash site, it took rescue personnel several hours to reach the site itself. The plane was a total loss and was written-off.
An investigation was initiated by Ecuadorian authorities, with the support of Boeing, the United States National Transportation Safety Board, and Pratt & Whitney, which lasted for several months. The investigation concluded that the crash occurred due to human error, including several factors: the pilot was unqualified and not trained properly by TAME to fly the Boeing 737 Advanced, the crew was not well acquainted with the controls of the aircraft, and the crew experienced spatial disorientation while trying to find the runway in heavy fog and, as a consequence, the plane dropped below the minimum safe altitude in a mountainous region without the flight crew realizing it until seconds before impact.
When the report of the accident was released in Ecuador, it caused public outrage. Questions were asked as to how an unqualified pilot could have been flying the plane without the necessary experience. TAME's reputation was damaged, but it recovered from the tragedy by reinforcing and adding strict standards in the pilot training process. It went on to become one of the best South American airlines, with a good safety record and only a few minor safety incidents since the crash at Cuenca.
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