ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-21 HK-1803 Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG)
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Status:
Date:Monday 27 November 1989
Time:07:16
Type:Silhouette image of generic B721 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Boeing 727-21
Operator:Avianca
Registration: HK-1803
MSN: 19035/272
First flight: 1966-05-19 (23 years 7 months)
Engines: 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7
Crew:Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Passengers:Fatalities: 101 / Occupants: 101
Total:Fatalities: 107 / Occupants: 107
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:16 km (10 mls) SW of Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG) (   Colombia)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG/SKBO), Colombia
Destination airport:Cali-Alfonso Bonilla Aragón Airport (CLO/SKCL), Colombia
Flightnumber:AV203
Narrative:
Avianca Flight 203 departed Bogotá at 07:11 for a flight to Cali, Colombia. While climbing through FL130, a improvised explosive device detonated in area under seat number 14F. The empty center fuel tank was then compromised and an ignition of fuel vapours inside the tank then set off a further break up of the aircraft.

In 1994, an assassin of the Medellin drug cartel, Dandeny Munoz-Mosquera, was convicted in connection with the crash. He allegedly had arranged to place the bomb aboard the aircraft because he believed that two informers who were cooperating with Colombian authorities were on board.

Classification:
Fuel tank explosion
Sabotage
Loss of control

Sources:
» USDOJ/OIG Special Report
» Drug Trafficker Convicted Of Blowing Up Jetliner (NY Times, 20 Dec. 1994)


Photos

photo of Boeing-727-21-N326PA
accident date: 27-11-1989
type: Boeing 727-21
registration: N326PA
 

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
19 MAY 1966 N326PA Pan Am
15 NOV 1975 HK-1803 Avianca

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 Bogotá-Eldorado Airport to Cali-Alfonso Bonilla Aragón Airport as the crow flies is 278 km (174 miles).
Accident location: Global; accuracy within tens or hundreds of kilometers.

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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Boeing 727

  • 1832 built
  • 58th loss
  • 42nd fatal accident
  • 17th worst accident (at the time)
  • 21st worst accident (currently)
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 Colombia
  • 2nd worst accident (at the time)
  • 4th worst accident (currently)
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