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Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046

Coordinates: 23°00′43″N 82°22′48″W / 23.012°N 82.380°W / 23.012; -82.380
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Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046
A Cubana Il-62M, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date3 September 1989
SummaryCrashed on takeoff, due to low altitude windshear and pilot error
SiteNear José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba
23°00′43″N 82°22′48″W / 23.012°N 82.380°W / 23.012; -82.380
Total fatalities150
Aircraft
Aircraft typeIlyushin Il-62M
OperatorCubana
IATA flight No.CU9046
ICAO flight No.CUB9046
Call signCUBANA 9046
RegistrationCU-T1281
Flight originJosé Martí International Airport
StopoverMalpensa Airport
DestinationCologne Bonn Airport
Occupants126
Passengers115
Crew11
Fatalities126
Survivors0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities24
Ground injuries16

Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046 was a chartered Ilyushin Il-62M airliner (registered CU-T1281) operated by Cubana, which crashed on 3 September 1989, shortly after takeoff from José Martí International Airport.[1][2]

Flight 9046 was due to operate a non-scheduled international Havana–Milan–Cologne passenger service. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 126 occupants of the aircraft plus 24 people on the ground.[1] It is the worst aviation disaster to have ever occurred in Cuba.[3]

Crew

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The pilot-in-command was 50-year-old Captain Armando Oliveros Arguelles, he had accumulated a total of 12,790 hours of flight time, including 6,487 hours on the Il-62M. The co-pilot was 40-year-old First Officer Miguel Ruiz Ravelo, with 7,559 hours of flight time, 2,872 hours were on the Il-62M. The navigator, 55-year-old Tomas Estrada Garcia, had a total of 17,675 hours of flight time, with 6,917 on the Il-62M. There were two mechanics: 45-year-old Fernando Diaz de los Arcos had a total of 11,554 flight hours, including 5,191 hours on the Il-62M; while 42-year-old Luis Herrera Altuna had a total of 1,249 flight hours.[1]

Accident

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The aircraft took off in heavy rain and wind gusts of 30–50 miles per hour (48–80 km/h).[2][4] The crew retracted the flaps from their initial 30° position to 15°, in an attempt to gain speed, but this action reduced the ability of the wing to provide lift.[5] The aircraft climbed to about 53 metres (174 ft), where it was hit by a downdraft that caused the airframe to strike the end of the runway, subsequently hitting a navigational facility and a small hill before crashing into a residential area, about one minute after takeoff.[5][2][4] All 126 people on board —115 passengers, most of them Italian holidaymakers, and a crew of 11—[4][6] perished in the accident. An additional 40 people on the ground were injured, including 24 fatally, as a result of the crash.[2]

Cause

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Investigators attributed the crash of Flight 9046 to the pilot's decision to fly after an abrupt deterioration in the meteorological conditions. The pilot underestimated the risks of taking off and misjudged the aircraft's performance in poor weather.[7]

Victims

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  • 115 passengers
  • 11 crew members
  • 24 on the ground

Only one of the passengers survived the crash initially. He lived for nine days but succumbed to his injuries afterwards.[8][9]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "AVION IL-62M, MATRICULA CU-T1281, ACCIDENTE OCURRIDO EN EL AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL "JOSE MARTI" CIUDAD DE LA HALANA, REPUBLICA DE CUBA, EL 3 DE SEPTEMBRE DE 1989" [IL-62M AIRCRAFT, REGISTERED CU-T1281, ACCIDENT AT THE JOSE MARTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CIUDAD DE LA HALANA, REPUBLIC OF CUBA, ON 3 SEPTEMBER 1989] (PDF) (Final Report) (in Spanish). Civil Aviation Institute of Cuba. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Aviation Safety Network.
  2. ^ a b c d Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 7 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Cuba plane crash leaves more than 100 dead". BBC News. 18 May 2018. Cuba's deadliest air crash was in 1989, when a Soviet-made Ilyushin-62M passenger plane crashed near Havana killing 126 people on board and another 24 people on the ground. 
  4. ^ a b c "Il-62 crashes". Flight International: 4. 9 September 1989. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Cubana Il-62 crash report cites pilot error as cause". Flight International: 17. 23 September 1989. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Jet With 54 on Board Missing in Brazil: Disappears Over Amazon; Toll in Cuban Crash May Reach 150". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 5 September 1989. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. It was carrying 113 Italians, two Cubans and a crew of 11, said the Cuban ambassador to Rome, Javier Ardizones. 
  7. ^ Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 212.
  8. ^ "Only Survivor of Crash That Killed 150 Fights for Life". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Only Survivor of Cuban Airliner Crash Dies". Los Angeles Times. 13 September 1989. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
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