Today we remember the anniversary 40 of the accident of Boeing 737-200 HC-BIG de TAME in approximationón to the Cuenca city. Foto Clint Groves/https://aviation-safety.net
We will review the history of what has been theía más trálogic for aviationón Ecuadorian in its history, the accident of Boeing 737 from Tame on Cuenca marcó several regrettable récords for the paíyes and alsoén for this avi modelón.
It was the first hours of the morningñanna of the 11 July 1983, when flight EQ173 approached Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca, but because of meúmultiple distractions and human error, the grandfatherón impactó a mountñjust 1.6 kilómeters of the track, causing the unfortunate death of the 119 people on board.
Boeing accident 737-200 of Tame in Cuenca
As I told youé, This accident takes several unfortunate récords to his credit, having been even at the time, the first fatal accident that an airplaneón jet the Tame Sufrimía. Many photos of the remains of the accident circulated in the media.ón that collected the events, Even several headlines where a possible attack was suspected made a portal there.á on 1983.
Notó time and researchón demonstratedó other results that we will comment onás down, but without a doubt this unfortunate accident leftó a Ecuador and the industryéworld area great learnings, being even referred to in several international studies about the bad corporate and cabin decisions that were made that day.ía.
In case you don't knowían, is habíIt was the first avión in acquiring Tame brand new fábrica Boeing and at the time of the accidentía poco más de 2 añyou since your first flight, what I markedó spaghettiéno what timelineólogically be the détenth fatal accident of this model of aircraftón, be the sixth accident with meás fatalities 737 e histórichly the worst accident that occurred in Ecuador.
It is important to indicate that on this flight there were 11 Colombians, 5 Americans and 103 Ecuadorians (8 crew membersón).
Final report
If I searchó deeply sources that reveal the final report where they also participatedén Boeing and the US NTSB USA, but it was not foundó this document, so I share informationón from the Aviation Safety Network portal that compiles the following:
| state: | |
| Date: | Monday 11 julio 1983 |
| Hour: | 07:40 |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-2V2 |
| Operator: | TAME Ecuador |
| foodíbutt: | HC-BIG |
| Numéro of série: | 22607/775 |
| AñConstructi'són: | 1981-06-11 (2 añy-axis 1 my |
| engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 |
| Crewón: | fatalities: 8 / occupants: 8 |
| passengers: | fatalities: 111 / occupants: 111 |
| Total: | fatalities: 119 / occupants: 119 |
| Andñyou in the Aircraft: | Destroyed |
| Impact: | Written off (andñdamaged beyond repairón) |
| Locationón: | 1,5 km (0.9 in what) from Cuenca ( Ecuador) |
| Elevationón of the accident scene: | 2605 m (8547 feet) amsl |
| Phase: | Approximationón (APR) |
| Nature: | Sun Flightéprogrammed static |
| Departure airport: | Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO/FOLLOW), Ecuador |
| Arrival airport: | Cuenca Airport (CUE/SECU), Ecuador |
| Núflight grouper: | EQ173 |
descriptionón: The flight 173 from TAME Ecuador, a boeing 737-200, blowó a hillside and crashedó near Cuenca Airport (CUE), Ecuador. The 119 on board died. the grandfatherón approached Cuenca in clear weather with patches of fog near the airport.
The controller authorizesó the flight for an approachón instrumental to the track 23. The crewóflight number, However, I decidedó perform a direct visual landing. After crossing the VOR El Tablón teníThe runway was still in sight and they continued the approach.ón. Since then, GPWS startedó to dream: ‘¡Ground, ground, pull up!’.
The pilots did not respond to these warnings and continued the approach.ón. In the meantime, the first officer suggestedó select flaps a 40 degrees and descend to 8700 pies, which was below altitude mínima de 9500 feet for that area. the grandfatheróI went downó ráask some 1500 pies/min. During the descent the aircraftón entró in the clouds. The crewón of flight was probably centeredó in obtaining visual contact with the ground, without paying attentionón at altitude. the grandfatheróI went downó until it hitsó the land to 8548 feet when hitó the tip of a mountainñwith its tail and crashedó in a ábad mountñbears approximately 1 track mile.
There is the possibility of publishing the official DGAC report?
It would be from the JIA, but if you have it there, you can send it to me [email protected].
I perfectly remember that fateful day , the press , the television all the news programs talked about that , the headline of glance magazine said “The plane that could not crash” , lamentable.
what a unique headline, what did they refer to?