Flight History
The aircraft had completed two uneventful flights to Santiago Mariño and Maturín before departing Porlamar for Puerto Ordaz. On board were 47 passengers and a crew of four.
Sequence of Events
While descending to Puerto Ordaz at an altitude of 13,500 feet and approximately 79 km from the destination, the crew reported control difficulties. Air traffic control prioritized the aircraft and instructed the crew for an approach and landing on runway 07. At 1021 local time, the crew reported their position at 3,000 feet and 28 km from the airport. Two minutes later, the distress message "mayday mayday mayday" was heard on the frequency. The aircraft went out of control and crashed in an industrial area located about 9 km short of the runway, bursting into flames upon impact.
Occupants and Injuries
Three crew members and 14 passengers were killed. Thirty-four other occupants were injured, ten of them seriously.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the most probable cause of the accident was a malfunction of the centralized crew warning system (CCAS/CAC) with erroneous activation of the flight loss of lift warning system. Contributing factors included poor crew resources management, loss of situational awareness, inadequate coordination during the decision-making process to deal with abnormal situations in flight, ignorance of the loss of lift warning system, and inadequate handling of flight controls.