Incident Overview
A twin-engine aircraft departed Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport at 1038 local time on a charter flight to Nueva Loja-Lago Agrio Airport, carrying 21 oil workers and five crew members on behalf of the Texaco Oil Company. The flight was conducted under visual flight rules (VFR) at an altitude of 15,500 feet.
Flight and Descent
While cruising, air traffic control (ATC) instructed the crew to change heading to 094° and begin a descent to Nueva Loja for landing on runway 23. The crew did not comply with this instruction and continued straight ahead. Several minutes later, the crew initiated a descent in foggy conditions. The aircraft subsequently struck the slope of Mt El Tigre, located in the southern part of Colombia near the border with Ecuador.
Wreckage and Casualties
The wreckage was discovered three days later at an elevation of 4,500 metres. The aircraft disintegrated on impact, and all 26 occupants were killed.
Probable Cause
According to the official investigation, the accident was a controlled flight into terrain. The crew lost situational awareness because their attention was focused on aspects unrelated to the flight being executed, leading them to neglect the primary functions of flight control and decision making. Contributing factors identified include: failure to maintain a sterile cockpit environment; continuous distraction during the flight; lack of technical documentation supporting the operation; inadequate crew training in crew resource management, human factors, and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT); weather conditions that made the mountain invisible to the crew; and the aircraft not being equipped with a ground proximity warning system (GPWS).