Accident · 1990-01-25

What the record says

Event date

1990-01-25

Event type

Accident

Highest injury level

Fatal injury

Aircraft

BOEING 707-321B (NHK201)

Operating rule

Part 129

Operator

Avianca Operator named in NTSB report

Operated by (per NTSB report)

AVIANCA

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHTCREW TO ADEQUATELY MANAGE THE AIRPLANE'S FUEL LOAD, AND THEIR FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE AN EMERGENCY FUEL SITUATION TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL BEFORE FUEL EXHAUSTION OCCURRED. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FLIGHTCREW'S FAILURE TO USE AN AIRLINE OPERATIONAL CONTROL DISPATCH SYSTEM TO ASSIST THEM DURING THE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT INTO A HIGH-DENSITY AIRPORT IN POOR WEATHER. ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS INADEQUATE TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT BY THE FAA AND THE LACK OF STANDARDIZED UNDERSTANDABLE TERMINOLOGY FOR PILOTS AND CONTROLLERS FOR MINIMUM AND EMERGENCY FUEL STATES. THE SAFETY BOARD ALSO DETERMINES THAT WINDSHEAR, CREW FATIGUE AND STRESS WERE FACTORS THAT LED TO THE UNSUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE FIRST APPROACH AND THUS CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT.

Flight crew

Flight-crew details for this event aren't in the NTSB database extract we hold (its coverage starts with 2008 events) — a gap in our data, not an absence of crew.