Viasa Flight 897

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Viasa Flight 897
Portela Airport
DestinationSimón Bolívar International Airport
Occupants61
Passengers47
Crew14
Fatalities61
Survivors0

Viasa Flight 897 was an international scheduled

Portela Airport. There were no survivors among the 61 occupants of the aircraft.[1]

Aircraft

Named

Douglas DC-8-53, registration PH-DCL, owned by KLM and operated on Viasa's behalf.[2] With constructor's number 45615/131, the airframe was the newest one of the type in KLM's fleet at the time the accident took place; it had accumulated 209 flight hours.[1][4]

Description

The crash of Viasa Flight 897 occurred on the third leg of a trip that originated in

Madrid, Spain
, Lisbon, and on Santa Maria Island.

At the time the airliner lifted off from Lisbon at 01:15

pitch
angle of approximately 25° nose down.

Investigation

The cause for the crash of Viasa Flight 897 was never determined by either Portuguese or Dutch authorities. The official report out of Portugal concluded "Notwithstanding a very thorough, time-consuming investigation, in which many authorities and experts co-operated, it was not possible to establish a probable cause of the accident."

The Netherlands, as state of registry for the aircraft, commented: "Though there are no direct indications in this respect, the Board regards it as possible that the accident was due to the pilot or pilots being misled by instrument failure, in particular of the artificial horizon, or to the pilot having been distracted, so that a serious deviation from the normal flight path was not discovered in time."

Legacy

At the time it occurred, Flight 897 was the third fatal crash of a big jetliner since they were introduced into service in 1958.

TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 in 1977.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ There exists a discrepancy over the route served by the flight depending upon the source.[1][2] Nevertheless, a July 1961 (1961-07) timetable shows that the route covered by the flight at the time the accident took place actually had its origin in Rome and had Caracas as its final destination, with stopovers at Madrid, Lisbon, and Santa Maria Island.[3]

References

  1. ^
    Aviation Safety Network
    . Retrieved on 26 November 2011.
  2. ^
    Flight: 814. 8 June 1961. Archived from the original
    on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Viasa Summer time table (Effective 1 July 1961) – Europe to South America". Airline Timetable Images. Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  4. Flight: 819. 15 June 1961. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 1 May 2012. These incidents come on top of the complete loss, with all 61 on board, of KLM's newest Douglas DC-8 off Lisbon, when under charter to Viasa (Venezuela).

External links

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