ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3 HK-2494 Finca La Bendición, San Martín
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Saturday 9 March 2019
Time:10:36
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC3 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Douglas DC-3
Operator:LASER Aéreo Colombia
Registration: HK-2494
MSN: 33105/16357
First flight: 1945
Total airframe hrs:27308
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11
Total:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Finca La Bendición, San Martín (   Colombia)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature:Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:San Jose del Guaviare-Jorge E. González T. Airport (SJE/SKSJ), Colombia
Destination airport:Villavicencio Airport (VVC/SKVV), Colombia
Narrative:
The DC-3 aircraft with registration HK-2494, operated by LASER, was prepared to make a non-scheduled passenger flight between Taraira Airport (SKTR) and the aerodrome Villavicencio (SKVV) in Colombia. The aircraft took off at 06:13 hours local time with a crew of three, eight passengers and 500 kgs of cargo.
Adverse weather conditions were encountered en route and the crew decided divert to Miraflores (SKMF) where it landed at 07:39. There two more passengers boarded the flight for Villavicencio.
At 08:34 the aircraft took off from Miraflores and flew to San Jose del Guaviare (SKSJ) to refuel, where it landed at 09:14. The aircraft was fueled and the crew submitted a flight plan to Villavicencio with a total flight time of 45 minutes an altitude of 8,500 feet. Prior to departure one more passenger boarded the flight.
The aircraft took off at 09:55. At 10:15, when the aircraft was climbing through 8,100 feet and approximately 59NM (109 km) from Villavicencio, the flight reported engine problems and their failure to feather the propeller.
At the crew's request, ATC provided information on the location of several aerodromes in the area and the crew chose to proceed to La Rinconada aerodrome.
The aircraft lost altitude and last radio contact was at 10:32 when the crew radioed that they had a runway in sight, with no further information.
At 10:34 the aircraft hit the ground of a palm plantation with a high angle of descent and low speed. Flaps and undercarriage were retracted at the time of the accident. The aircraft slid across a gravel road and burst into flames.

Probable Cause:

Probable Cause(s).
The investigation determined that the accident was caused by the following probable causes:
- Loss of control in-flight as a consequence of the decrease in minimum in-flight control speed and drag generated by the impossibility of performing the No. 1 engine propeller feathering in the face of engine failure.
- Malfunction of the lubrication system of engine No. 1, evident in the abundant oil leakage from the engine, in flight, and in the governor of the left propeller; although discrepancies were found in the maintenance of the propeller feathering pressure line, it was not possible to determine the origin of the oil leakage.
- Weaknesses in the aircraft Operator's operational procedures, lacking a standard that would facilitate a crew's decision making to act in the event of critical failures, in matters such as making an emergency landing on unprepared field or the selection of an alternate airfield.
Contributing Factors:
- Deficiencies in standard maintenance practices during repairs performed on the No. 1 engine's propeller propeller feathering oil pressure line.
- Non-compliance with an effective and reliable maintenance program, which did not verify the operating conditions of the aircraft components; it was not possible to determine compliance with the last 50-hour service, Phase A, to engine No. 1 according to the company's maintenance program, since there are no records of that service in the Flight Log.
- Inefficient safety management system of the Operator for not detecting errors in the maintenance processes and in the conduct and control of operations.

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: Aerocivil Colombia
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 10 months
Accident number: COL-19-10-GIA
Download report: Final report

Classification:


Loss of control

Sources:
» elespectador.com
» Aerocivil


Follow-up / safety actions

Aerocivil issued 8 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of Douglas-DC-3-HK-2494
accident date: 09-03-2019
type: Douglas DC-3
registration: HK-2494
 

Video, social media

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
1945 44-76773 USAAF
April 1945 99826 US Navy
8 Oct. 1971 N87611 University of Texas registered
6 Aug. 1980 N87611 Freedom Export registered
29 Oct. 1980 HK-2494 SAEP
1997 HK-2494 SAEP stored Bogotá
9 Sept. 1999 HK-2494 SADELCA
Oct. 2015 HK-2494 LASER

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from San Jose del Guaviare-Jorge E. González T. Airport to Villavicencio Airport as the crow flies is 206 km (129 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Douglas DC-3

  • ca 13.000 built
  • 4595th loss
  • 1820th fatal accident
  • 383rd worst accident
» safety profile

 Colombia
  • 68th worst accident
» safety profile

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