Flight History
The flight departed from San Miguel de Tucumán and proceeded uneventfully to Buenos Aires-Aeroparque-Jorge Newbury Airport. The crew began the descent and was cleared by the tower controller at 1035 local time to descend to 750 meters to the San Fernando VOR, with clearance for a direct approach to runway 13 from the VOR. At 1040, the flight reported over the OP VOR and was cleared to land. The wind had shifted from 6 knots at 60° to 12 knots at 030°, and visibility was decreasing.
At 1042, the crew reported the runway in sight and obtained current weather information, which included heavy rainfall and wind from 360 degrees at 10 knots. The pilots then lost sight of the runway and decided to abort the approach. The aircraft continued south to the Quilmes (ILM) NDB. The tower controller cleared the flight to hold over the ILM beacon at 900 meters. Because of cumulonimbus clouds over the NDB, the crew requested a holding pattern over the Río de la Plata at 600 meters.
Accident
At 10:52, the flight was cleared for another straight-in approach to runway 31. Shortly afterwards, the pilots lost control of the aircraft, which crashed into the river. Only 55 to 65 percent of the wreckage was recovered. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were not found after 42 days of searching. All 31 occupants were killed.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause was loss of control of the aircraft and impact with the water due to an error of appreciation by the pilot in assessing the meteorological conditions when crossing through a zone of influence of an extremely violent cumulonimbus.