| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 March 1969 |
| Type | Pilot error, Overweight[citation needed] |
| Site | Maracaibo, Venezuela |
| Passengers | 74 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 84 (aircraft) 71 (on ground) 155 (total) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-30 |
| Operator | Viasa |
| Tail number | YV-C-AVD |
| Flight origin | Aeropuerto Grano de Oro, Maracaibo |
| Destination | Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida |
Viasa Flight 742 was an international, scheduled passenger flight from Maracaibo, Venezuela to Miami, Florida that crashed on 16 March 1969. Faulty temperature sensors along the runway resulted in an incorrect takeoff configuration, and the aircraft was unable to gain altitude quickly enough. The DC-9-30 hit a series of power lines before crashing into the La Trinidad section of Maracaibo. All 84 people on board perished, as well as 71 on the ground.
The DC-9 involved in the crash was on lease from Avensa and had only been in service a few weeks.[1] It was a common practice of Viasa to lease aircraft from other carriers.
When Flight 742 crashed it was the first ever loss of a DC-9-30, and it remains the worst accident involving that class of aircraft. It is the second worst accident in Venezuela. At the time, the crash was the world's worst civil air disaster.[2]
One of the people who perished in the Viasa Flight 742 crash was San Francisco Giant pitching prospect Néstor Chávez.
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