What happened
On October 31, 2022, at 16:15 UTC, a Douglas MD-80 (registration YV3475) operated by LASER departed Maiquetía International Airport in La Guaira, Venezuela, bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The flight was carrying 97 people, including crew and passengers.
During the climb, while passing through FL250, the aircraft experienced an automatic disconnection of the autopilot and the automatic power control (autothrottle). The crew identified that the left generator had gone offline. The pilot transitioned to manual control and successfully reconnected the automation systems using the load from the right generator.
Following established procedures in the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH), the crew attempted to reset the failed generator. Upon finding that electrical loads were at zero, they activated the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to restore power to the left system. However, approximately two minutes after reaching FL320, the APU also failed, triggering an "APU FAULT" indication. Faced with the loss of both the left generator and the APOG, the crew decided to abort the flight and return to Maiquetía.
The aircraft landed safely at 17:00 UTC. There were no injuries reported, and the aircraft sustained no significant damage.
The investigation
The JIAAC investigation examined maintenance records and component replacements. It was noted that two days prior to the event, the left engine generator had been replaced following a similar report of the generator light being off. Following the incident on October 31, investigators confirmed that the Generator Control Unit (GCU) for the left engine required replacement. Additionally, a failure in the right engine oil pressure regulating valve was identified and addressed.