Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205

1959 aviation accident

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205
Accident
A Curtiss C-46A Commando, similar to the one involved in the accident.
Date	16 January 1959 (1959-01-16)
Summary	Crashed while attempting to land in IFR conditions
Site	Off Mar del Plata, Argentina 37°56′00″S 57°34′00″W / 37.93333°S 57.56667°W / -37.93333; -57.56667
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Curtiss C-46 Commando
Operator	Austral Líneas Aéreas
Registration	LV-GED
Flight origin	Buenos Aires-Jorge Newbery Airport,(AEP/SABE), Argentina
Destination	Mar Del Plata Airport, (MDQ/SAZM), Argentina
Occupants	52
Passengers	47
Crew	5
Fatalities	51
Injuries	1
Survivors	1

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205 was a regularly scheduled domestic Austral Líneas Aéreas flight operating a route between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata in Argentina that crashed after encountering poor weather conditions during landing on 16 January 1959, killing 51 of the 52 passengers and crew on board. At the time, the crash was the second-worst accident in Argentine aviation history and is currently the sixth-worst involving a Curtiss C-46 Commando.

Accident

The Curtiss C-46 Commando, registration LV-GED, took off from Buenos Aires at 19:50 local time with five crew members and 47 passengers aboard for an approximately 250-mile flight to Mar del Plata. The aircraft had already been delayed for 35 minutes due to poor weather conditions at its destination. The flight was uneventful and Flight 205 was cleared for landing by controllers on runway 12 as it neared Mar Del Plata Airport. At the time the airport's non-directional beacon (NDB) was not functional, contributing to issues with navigation. As the aircraft passed over the runway at an altitude of 85 metres (279 ft), it overshot the runway. Missing the approach, the captain decided to commence a go-around. However, in bad visibility with poor airport lighting, the C-46 stalled and crashed into the sea about 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) away from the airport at 21:40 local time. All members of the crew were killed and the only survivor of the 47 passengers aboard the crash was seriously injured, still he managed to swim to the coast.

Causes

An investigation of the crash placed most of the blame for the accident on the crew. The pilot was not familiar with the airspace and had miscalculated his instrument approach, resulting in a missed approach. In addition, the crew's mental state contributed to the subsequent stall and loss of control that caused the aircraft to crash. Contributing factors were the non-functioning radio beacon and the poor visibility which made discerning the airport's lights and runway difficult.

References

^ Ranter, Harro (1959-01-16). "ASN Aircraft accident Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando LV-GED Mar del Plata, BA". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
^ "Mar del Plata". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. 1968-11-07. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
Spivack, PJ (23 June 2012). Dangerous Lessons And Guardian Angels: An Airline Pilot's Story. BookBaby. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-62112-753-6.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959 (1959)
Jan 8 Southeast Airlines Flight 308Jan 11 Lufthansa Flight 502Jan 16 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205Jan 18 Aeroflot Flight 205Feb 3 American Airlines Flight 320Feb 3 Clear Lake crash ("The Day the Music Died")Feb 3 Pan Am Flight 115Feb 17 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crashApr 23 Air Charter Turkey crashMay 12 Capital Airlines Flight 75Jun 22 Pan Am Clipper PanamaJun 26 TWA Flight 891Jun 30 Okinawa F-100 crashAug 15 American Airlines Flight 514Aug 19 Transair Douglas Dakota accidentSep 24 TAI Flight 307Sep 29 Braniff Flight 542Oct 19 Washington Boeing 707 crashOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 200Oct 30 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349Nov 16 National Airlines Flight 967Nov 16 Aeroflot Flight 315Nov 21 Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 202Dec 1 Allegheny Airlines Flight 371Dec 4 San Diego F3H crash
1958 ◄ ► 1960

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959 (1959)

Jan 8 Southeast Airlines Flight 308Jan 11 Lufthansa Flight 502Jan 16 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205Jan 18 Aeroflot Flight 205Feb 3 American Airlines Flight 320Feb 3 Clear Lake crash ("The Day the Music Died")Feb 3 Pan Am Flight 115Feb 17 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crashApr 23 Air Charter Turkey crashMay 12 Capital Airlines Flight 75Jun 22 Pan Am Clipper PanamaJun 26 TWA Flight 891Jun 30 Okinawa F-100 crashAug 15 American Airlines Flight 514Aug 19 Transair Douglas Dakota accidentSep 24 TAI Flight 307Sep 29 Braniff Flight 542Oct 19 Washington Boeing 707 crashOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 200Oct 30 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349Nov 16 National Airlines Flight 967Nov 16 Aeroflot Flight 315Nov 21 Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 202Dec 1 Allegheny Airlines Flight 371Dec 4 San Diego F3H crash

1958 ◄ ► 1960

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Argentina
1900– 1949	Eduardo Newbery (October 1908) BSAA Avro Lancastrian Star Dust accident (August 1947)
1950– 1999	Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 670 (December 1957) Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205 (January 1959) Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644 (July 1961) Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 707 (February 1970) Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 901 (May 1981) Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046 (June 1988) LAPA Flight 3142 (August 1999)
2000–	Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428 (May 2011) 2015 Villa Castelli mid-air collision (March 2015)

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