Viasa Flight 742

Viasa Flight 742

A Viasa DC-9 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	March 16, 1969 (1969-03-16)
Summary	Short runway with faulty temperature sensors, and pilot error due to calculations of incorrect information leading to overloading of aircraft
Site	Grano de Oro Airport, Maracaibo, Venezuela 10.694°N 71.637°W / 10.694; -71.637
Total fatalities	155
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Operator	Viasa
IATA flight No.	VA742
ICAO flight No.	VIA742
Call sign	Viasa 742
Registration	YV-C-AVD
Flight origin	Simón Bolívar International Airport, Caracas
Stopover	Grano de Oro Airport, Maracaibo
Destination	Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida
Occupants	84
Passengers	74
Crew	10
Fatalities	84
Survivors	0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	71

Viasa Flight 742 was an international, scheduled passenger flight from Caracas, Venezuela to Miami International Airport with an intermediate stopover in Maracaibo, Venezuela that crashed on 16 March 1969. After taking off on the Maracaibo to Miami leg, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 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.

Aircraft

The DC-9 involved in the crash was on lease from Avensa and had been in service for less than a month. It was only two months old at the time of the accident and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B engines.

Accident

The first leg of the flight, from Caracas to Maracaibo, carried 57 people; 42 passengers and 10 crew members. The flight crew of the first leg consisted of two captains: Harry Gibson and Emiliano Savelli Maldonado.

The aircraft arrived at Maracaibo at 10:30. Captain Gibson disembarked and Captain Maldonado became the pilot in command of the last leg. The new first officer was Jose Gregorio Rodriguez Silva. 27 more passengers boarded the aircraft, which was loaded with 12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb) of jet fuel.

Flight 742 began its takeoff roll at 12:00. As the DC-9 headed toward Ziruma, it failed to gain altitude, and the plane's left engine struck a power pole. As the plane banked left, a reflector struck the fuel tank, spilling fuel. After hitting another power pole, the plane's left wing was ripped off and the left engine exploded into flames. The plane crashed in a small park in La Trinidad. The impact was so hard that the right engine was torn off the plane and impacted a house.

Notable people

Among the passenger who perished in the disaster was San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Néstor Chávez.

Investigation

The cause of the crash was attributed to faulty sensors, along with runway and take-off calculations made from erroneous information, which resulted in the aircraft being overloaded by more than 5,000 pounds for the prevailing conditions. Only two days after the crash, Venezuela's Public Works Minister ascribed runway length as a contributing factor in the disaster.

Aftermath

The crash resulted in the closure of the old Grano de Oro Airport and accelerated the construction of the new La Chinita International Airport. The new airport opened 8 months later in November 1969.

Flight 742 is the deadliest accident involving the DC-9. It was also the deadliest accident in Venezuela until West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 (operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, the DC-9's successor aircraft) crashed 36 years later in 2005. At the time, the crash was the world's deadliest civil air disaster. The fatality total was surpassed by All Nippon Airways Flight 58, which killed 162 people after colliding with an F-86 fighter jet in 1971.