Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-62M airliner, registered CU-T1281, operated by Cubana de Aviación. The flight crew consisted of Captain Armando Oliveros Arguelles, aged 50, with 12,790 total flight hours (6,487 on type); First Officer Miguel Ruiz Ravelo, aged 40, with 7,559 hours (2,872 on type); Navigator Tomas Estrada Garcia, aged 55, with 17,675 hours (6,917 on type); and two mechanics: Fernando Diaz de los Arcos, aged 45, with 11,554 hours (5,191 on type), and Luis Herrera Altuna, aged 42, with 1,249 hours.
Accident Sequence
Flight 9046 was a non-scheduled international passenger service from Havana to Cologne and Milan. On 3 September 1989, shortly after takeoff from José Martí International Airport, the aircraft encountered heavy rain and wind gusts of 30–50 miles per hour (48–80 km/h). The crew retracted the flaps from 30° to 15° to increase speed, but this reduced the wing's lift capability. The aircraft climbed to about 53 metres (174 ft) before a downdraft caused it to strike the end of the runway, then hit a navigational facility and a small hill, crashing into a residential area approximately one minute after takeoff.
Victims
All 126 people on board—115 passengers (mostly Italian holidaymakers) and 11 crew members—died. Additionally, 24 people on the ground sustained fatal injuries, and 40 others were injured. One passenger initially survived but succumbed to injuries nine days later.
Cause
Investigators attributed the crash to the pilot's decision to take off despite abruptly deteriorating meteorological conditions. The pilot underestimated the risks and misjudged the aircraft's performance in poor weather.