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2002 plane crash near Ipiales, Colombia

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TAME Flight 120
Accident
A section of the destroyed aircraft
Date	January 28, 2002; 22 years ago (January 28, 2002)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain, navigation error
Site	Cumbal Volcano, Colombia 0°56′56″N 77°53′17″W / 0.949°N 77.888°W / 0.949; -77.888
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-134
Aircraft name	El Oro
Operator	TAME
Registration	HC-BLF
Flight origin	Mariscal Sucre International Airport
Stopover	Teniente Coronel Luis A. Mantilla International Airport
Destination	Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport
Occupants	94
Passengers	87
Crew	7
Fatalities	94
Survivors	0

TAME Flight 120 was a Boeing 727-134 airliner, registration HC-BLF, named El Oro, operating as a scheduled international passenger flight between Quito, Ecuador and Cali, Colombia, with a scheduled stopover at the Ecuadorian border town of Tulcán. The aircraft crashed while on approach to Tulcán's Teniente Coronel Luis A. Mantilla International Airport on January 28, 2002. The pilot flew the approach incorrectly in reportedly foggy conditions, and the aircraft crashed into the side of the Cumbal Volcano, located near Ipiales, Colombia, at 10:23 in the morning. All 94 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved had first flown in 1967 and was previously operated by Transair Sweden, Air Madeira, and Philippine Airlines before being transferred to TAME.

The captain was 59-year-old Jorge Efrain Noe, one of TAME's flight instructors and most experienced pilots, having logged a total of 12,091 flight hours, including 8,263 hours on the Boeing 727. The first officer was 52-year-old Carlos Alfonso Lopez, who was undergoing training to become a captain. He had 7,058 flight hours with 3,457 of them on the Boeing 727. The flight engineer was 50-year-old Jorge Anibal Burgos Villamar, who had 4,200 flight hours including 3,000 hours on the Boeing 727.

First officer Lopez was the pilot flying on the accident flight and occupied the left seat, while captain Noe occupied the right seat and acted as pilot-in-command.

Flight chronology

The Boeing 727-100 departed Quito at 10:03 local time, taking off from Runway 17. The aircraft climbed to a cruising altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and proceeded north-north-east along the G-675 airway. The first leg, between Quito and Tulcán, was a short one. At 10:15 HC-BLF made contact with the Tulcán control tower, at which point it was positioned 29 miles (25 nmi; 47 km) from the Tulcán NDB. The crew were given permission to descend to 14,000 feet (4,300 m), and were provided with the weather conditions and cleared for the approach.

The NDB approach to Runway 23 at Teniente Coronel Luis A. Mantilla Airport would take the airplane directly over the airport, bearing 085 degrees; the aircraft would then make a left-hand turn to heading 233 after 1.5 minutes, flying at 180 knots (210 mph; 330 km/h) IAS, all the while descending to a final altitude of 11,500 feet (3,500 m). The elevation of the runway is 9,679 feet (2,950 m); there are numerous mountain ridges and peaks located in the vicinity of the airport, which is located high in the Andes mountains. The Cumbal Volcano, which rises to an altitude of 15,626 feet (4,763 m), is located less than 20 miles (17 nmi; 32 km) due west of the airport.

El Oro entered the approach from the southwest, passing slightly west of the NDB, as opposed to directly over it. The pilot began the turn correctly, but was flying too fast; the aircraft was flying at 230 knots (260 mph; 430 km/h), rather than the required 180 knots. This took the 727 wide of its intended course; by the time it came around to a westerly heading, it was flying not towards the runway, but into the side of the Cumbal Volcano.

The aircraft crashed into the side of the mountain at 10:23 AM, after which no further contact was made with the flight. The impact occurred at an elevation of 14,700 feet (4,500 m), some 1,400 feet (430 m) below the volcano's summit. Visibility was very poor at the time of the accident; the wreckage was not found until almost a day later.

Investigation

The investigation committee of the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics (Colombia) found the probable cause of the accident to be the following:

1. The pilot's decision... to initiate and continue the flight towards Tulcán Airport while below minimum meteorological conditions established in the company's standard operating procedure.
2. Inadequate navigation and operation of the aircraft by the pilot in command... consistent with entering the holding pattern at the Tulcán NDB with a velocity of 230 knots indicated and with a bank angle of 15 degrees, exceeding the maximum limit of 180 knots stipulated throughout the procedure, and using a bank angle inferior to the recommended 25 to 30 degrees, thereby departing... holding pattern obstacle protection, leading to a collision against the Cumbal Volcano.
— Final report, Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics

References

"Registration Details For HC-BLF (TAME Ecuador) 727-134". www.planelogger.com. PlaneLogger. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ "Final report" (PDF). Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
"NDB approach" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-134 HC-BLF Ipiales". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2019-05-03.

External links

Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics
- Preliminary report (Archive)
- Final report (Archive) (in Spanish)
Report on the poor design of the approach to SETU (Archive)
Web site about the accident (in Spanish)
Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2002 (2002)
Jan 5 Tampa Cessna 172 crashJan 14 Siberia Airlines Flight 852Jan 16 Garuda Indonesia Flight 421Jan 27 Shelkovskaya Mi-8 crashJan 28 TAME Flight 120Feb 12 Iran Air Tours Flight 956Apr 15 Air China Flight 129Apr 18 Pirelli Tower airplane crashMay 3 Jalandhar MiG-21 crashMay 4 EAS Airlines Flight 4226May 7 China Northern Airlines Flight 6136May 7 EgyptAir Flight 843May 25 China Airlines Flight 611Jun 17 C-130 Hercules airtanker crashJul 1 Überlingen mid-air collisionJul 1 America West Airlines Flight 556Jul 4 Prestige Airlines Boeing 707 crashJul 10 Swiss International Air Lines Flight 850Jul 16 Bristow Helicopters Sikorsky S-76A crashJul 18 PB4Y-2 Privateer airtanker crashJul 26 FedEx Express Flight 1478Jul 27 Sknyliv air show disasterJul 28 Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560Aug 19 Khankala Mi-26 crashAug 22 Shangri-La Air Twin Otter crashAug 30 Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823Sep 14 Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5561Oct 9 Northwest Airlines Flight 85Nov 6 Luxair Flight 9642Nov 11 Laoag International Airlines Flight 585Dec 21 TransAsia Airways Flight 791Dec 23 Aeromist-Kharkiv Flight 2137
2001 ◄ ► 2003

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2002 (2002)

Jan 5 Tampa Cessna 172 crashJan 14 Siberia Airlines Flight 852Jan 16 Garuda Indonesia Flight 421Jan 27 Shelkovskaya Mi-8 crashJan 28 TAME Flight 120Feb 12 Iran Air Tours Flight 956Apr 15 Air China Flight 129Apr 18 Pirelli Tower airplane crashMay 3 Jalandhar MiG-21 crashMay 4 EAS Airlines Flight 4226May 7 China Northern Airlines Flight 6136May 7 EgyptAir Flight 843May 25 China Airlines Flight 611Jun 17 C-130 Hercules airtanker crashJul 1 Überlingen mid-air collisionJul 1 America West Airlines Flight 556Jul 4 Prestige Airlines Boeing 707 crashJul 10 Swiss International Air Lines Flight 850Jul 16 Bristow Helicopters Sikorsky S-76A crashJul 18 PB4Y-2 Privateer airtanker crashJul 26 FedEx Express Flight 1478Jul 27 Sknyliv air show disasterJul 28 Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560Aug 19 Khankala Mi-26 crashAug 22 Shangri-La Air Twin Otter crashAug 30 Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823Sep 14 Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5561Oct 9 Northwest Airlines Flight 85Nov 6 Luxair Flight 9642Nov 11 Laoag International Airlines Flight 585Dec 21 TransAsia Airways Flight 791Dec 23 Aeromist-Kharkiv Flight 2137

2001 ◄ ► 2003

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