Incident Overview
A Douglas DC-3 departed Pereira at 17:24 for a flight to Bogotá, with planned reporting points at El Paso, Girardot, and La Esperanza. The aircraft arrived over La Esperanza at 18:18 and was instructed to hold at flight level 130 (FL130). At 18:33, the flight was cleared to proceed to the Bogotá VOR. The crew estimated arrival over the VOR at 18:44 and were subsequently instructed to descend to FL120 for an ADF approach to Bogotá Airport, with reports required at the VOR at FL120 and over the outer marker at 9,800 feet.
Sequence of Events
At 18:41, the aircraft arrived abeam the Bogotá VOR ahead of schedule and was instructed to maintain FL120 until 18:44. At 18:42, the flight crew reported seeing another aircraft in their vicinity, which they initially believed to be a DC-4 but was later determined to be a Curtiss C-46 that had been cleared for final approach. The DC-3 crew took evasive action, initiating a right turn. During this maneuver, control of the aircraft was lost, and the DC-3 crashed near Facatativá.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause to be: "The pilot of the aircraft in observing the presence of another aircraft abruptly initiated a right turn which ended in an abnormal 'nose below the horizon' attitude, which he was unable to rectify in time."
Contributing Factors
The investigation cited several contributing factors:
- Error of other personnel: The pilot of the other aircraft initiated the instrument descent from 12,000 feet after 2 minutes 55 seconds, when the normal time would have been 1 minute 15 or 20 seconds, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Bogotá approach-to-land chart and the Manual of Colombian Air Routes approved by the Administrative Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, thereby creating a risk of collision in the air.
- The pilot of the subject aircraft had been flying on DC-4s and C-46s as well as DC-3s. The psychological reaction of the pilot at a critical moment was certainly affected by habits acquired on DC-4 and C-46 aircraft.
- Possible failure of equipment (faulty distribution of flight instruments in the cockpit): This is a design effect, since the artificial horizon in the subject type of aircraft was hidden behind the pilot's control column, which made it more difficult to control the flight posture of the machine.