Air France Flight 422

Air France Flight 422
	The aircraft involved in the accident while still in service with Lufthansa
Accident
Date	April 20, 1998
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) due to pilot error aggravated by inclement weather
Site	near El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá, Colombia ; 4°35′56″N 74°04′51″W / 4.59889°N 74.08083°WCoordinates: 4°35′56″N 74°04′51″W / 4.59889°N 74.08083°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-230
Operator	TAME on behalf of Air France
Registration	HC-BSU
Flight origin	El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá, Colombia
Destination	Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Quito, Ecuador
Occupants	53
Passengers	43
Crew	10
Fatalities	53
Survivors	0

Air France Flight 422 was a scheduled flight on 20 April 1998 by Air France from Bogotá, Colombia, to Quito, Ecuador, covering the final leg of a flight from Paris to Bogotá, operated by TAME on behalf of Air France. The Boeing 727 was destroyed, killing all 53 people on board, when it crashed into the Eastern Hills of Bogotá because of foggy weather and low visibility after taking off from Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport. The plane was owned by TAME, the Ecuadorian airline, but was being operated on a wet-lease basis to Air France as the final leg of its flight from Paris.^[1]

Summary[]

The 21 year old TAME Boeing 727-200Adv was covering the final leg of an Air France flight, with Ecuadorian crew. The 3-man flight deck crew was acceptably skilled, according to training authorities, but the flight's captain had logged only about 400 hours in the 727. A flight operations mechanic and 6 flight attendants completed the crew. Forty-three passengers were among the 53 people on board the aircraft.

The weather conditions were 7 km (4 nm) visibility, limited by a broken ceiling layer of cumulonimbus clouds 2,000 feet above the aerodrome; a temperature of 16°C; and an altimeter pressure decrease from (QNH 3031 to QNH 3024).

Accident[]

The aircraft was cleared to Quito International Airport via the Girardot 1 (GIR1) departure, which consisted of a right turn after takeoff (over the Romeo/R NDB) for noise abatement, and subsequent transitioning (via VIOTA) to a south-west route. The flight crew failed to execute the maneuver properly; the first officer, acting as pilot in command, did not make the initial turn, and then forgot to turn the transponder on, which prohibited radar controllers from assisting them. The FDR showed a departure profile with a low vertical speed, and an airspeed of 260 knots, designed to decrease fuel utilization. The procedure was also planned to prevent transit ahead of the 19 DME arc of the Bogotá VOR, a mountainous zone whose minimum altitude increases drastically to 14,000 feet. Investigators concluded that the acceleration toward 260 knots resulted in loss of situational awareness by the crew, with the single-minded focus on gaining airspeed leading to disregard of safe navigation of the aircraft.^[2]

Less than 2 minutes after taking off from the runway 13L, the aircraft crashed at an airspeed of 260 knots into the Cerro el Cable, while passing 10,100 feet. All 53 people on board died due to a combination of impact and fire injuries. The fire also consumed a 10,000 square foot forest area, which was burnt after the aircraft disintegrated and exploded upon impact.^[3]