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TACA Flight 390

Coordinates: 14°04′13″N 87°12′51″W / 14.0702°N 87.2141°W / 14.0702; -87.2141
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TACA Flight 390
The wreckage of TACA Flight 390
Accident
DateMay 30, 2008
SummaryRunway overrun, pilot error
SiteToncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
14°04′13″N 87°12′51″W / 14.0702°N 87.2141°W / 14.0702; -87.2141
Total fatalities5 (including 2 on the ground)
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A320-233
OperatorTACA
RegistrationEI-TAF[1]
Flight originEl Salvador International Airport, San Salvador, El Salvador
1st stopoverToncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
2nd stopoverRamón Villeda Morales International Airport, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
DestinationMiami International Airport, Miami, Florida
Passengers118
Crew6
Fatalities3[2]
Injuries65
Survivors121
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities2

TACA Flight 390 was a scheduled flight on May 30, 2008, by TACA International from San Salvador, El Salvador, to Miami, Florida, United States, with intermediate stops at Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in Honduras.[3] The aircraft, an Airbus A320-233, overran the runway after landing at Tegucigalpa's Toncontín International Airport and rolled out into a street, crashing into an embankment and smashing several cars in the process.[4]

Aircraft and crew

EI-TAF, the aircraft involved in the accident while leased to Cubana.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-233 with c/n 1374. It was built in 2000 and entered service with TACA in 2001 as N465TA before re-registered as EI-TAF in 2006. The aircraft was leased twice to Cubana de Avación and Martinair in 2001 and 2007 respectively.[5][6]

The flight crew included Salvadorans Captain Cesare Edoardo D'Antonio Mena (40) and First Officer Juan Rodolfo Artero Arevalo (26).[7][8] All cabin crew members operating on the flight were Hondurans. Captain D'Antonio had 11,899 flight hours, including 8,514 hours on the Airbus A320, and first officer Artero had 1,607 hours with 250 of them on the Airbus A320. Both pilots had previously experience in landing at Toncontín International Airport; captain D'Antonio had landed at the airport 52 times, and first officer Artero had landed there 5 times.[9]

Accident

Flight 390 departed from San Salvador at 9:05 local time. At 09:40, the flight landed on runway 02 at Toncontín International Airport. Although both thrust reversers were deployed and the spoilers were activated, the aircraft overshot the runway at a speed of 54 knots (62 mph; 100 km/h), crossed an embankment, and crashed into a road beside the airport.[10][11]

Passengers

The passengers consisted of:[12]

Nationality Passengers Crew Total
Honduras 60 5 65
Costa Rica 9 0 9
Argentina 8 0 8
Guatemala 7 0 7
United States 5 0 5
Nicaragua 3 0 3
El Salvador 3 1 4
Mexico 3 0 3
Brazil 2 0 2
Canada 2 0 2
Colombia 2 0 2
Spain 1 0 1
Georgia 1 0 1
Germany 1 0 1
Italy 1 0 1
Uruguay 1 0 1
Undetermined/not stated 14 0 14
Total 104 6 114

A list of passengers was provided in the fifth press release on the crash from TACA international. This list was in the Spanish and English sections.[13]

Five people died as a result of the accident, including Captain D'Antonio.[14] The deceased passengers were later confirmed as Jeanne Chantal Neele, the wife of Brian Michael Fraser Neele [de] (Brazil's ambassador to Honduras, who was also on board), and Nicaraguan businessman Harry Brautigam, president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration; Brautigam died from a heart attack.[15] Ambassador Fraser Neele sustained injuries in the crash. The former head of the Honduran armed forces was also injured. There were two fatalities on the ground, one a taxi driver, in one of three vehicles crushed on the street by the aircraft. One of the survivors said that the business class passengers sustained the most serious injuries.[2]

Investigation

Honduran authorities delegated the investigation of the accident to the Civil Aviation Authority of El Salvador as per the Convention on International Civil Aviation.[16] The accident report stated that the airplane had landed with a 12-knot (22 km/h; 14 mph) tailwind, 400 metres (1,300 ft) from the displaced approach end of the runway. Since this was the first intermediate stop on a long transcontinental flight, the aircraft was near its upper landing-weight limit (63.5t vs. 64.5t maximum allowable). In addition, the runway was wet, due to the passage of Tropical Storm Alma.[10][9]

The Aviation Herald retrieved a copy of the final report in 2017. The report itself has not been made public. The Civil Aviation Authority concluded the cause of the accident was the flight crew's inappropriate decision to continue the landing despite not assessing the conditions of the runway, which did not follow standard operating procedures. The lack of grooving in the runway and the aircraft landing at a high speed of 160 knots (180 mph; 300 km/h) were also contributing factors.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A320-233 EI-TAF Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport (TGU)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Honduras crash forces diversions". BBC News. BBC. May 31, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "Flightstats for TA390 SAL-TGU-SAP-MIA". May 30, 2008. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011.
  4. ^ "Fatal crash at Honduran airport". BBC News. May 31, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "EI-TAF TACA International Airlines Airbus A320-200". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "TACA EI-TAF (Airbus A320 - MSN 1374) (Ex N465TA)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "dantonio.pdf" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority (El Salvador). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  8. ^ "artero.pdf" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority (El Salvador). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: TACA A320 at Tegucigalpa on May 30th 2008, overran runway and crashed into embankment". avherald.com. The Aviation Herald. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Ranter, Harro. "Accident description, Friday 30 May 2008, TACA International Airlines, EI-TAF". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  11. ^ Chui, Sam; Cunningham, Bryan (August 15, 2021). "My TACA Flight 390 Crash in Tegucigalpa, Honduras". SamChui.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "TACA News" (Press release). TACA Airlines. September 18, 2008. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  13. ^ "Noticias GRUPO TACA BOLETÍN INFORMATIVO No. 5" [News TACA GROUP INFORMATIVE BULLETIN No. 5] (Press release) (in Spanish). TACA Airlines. June 1, 2008. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008.
  14. ^ Palencia, Gustavo (May 30, 2008). "Plane skids off runway in Honduras, 5 dead". Reuters. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. ^ "Five die as Honduras jet overshoots runway". CNN. May 31, 2008. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  16. ^ "Preliminary report" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority (El Salvador). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
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