TANS Perú Flight 204
TANS Perú Flight 204 was a domestic scheduled Lima–Pucallpa–Iquitos passenger service, operated with a Boeing 737-200 Advanced, that crashed on 23 August 2005 on approach to Pucallpa Airport, off the airfield, following an emergency landing attempt because of bad weather, killing 40 of the 98 passengers and crew aboard.
Background
The passengers were identified as 11 Americans, four Italians, one Colombian, one Australian, and one Spanish tourist. The Spanish victim was Eva María Gonzalo Torrellas, 27, from Tarazona, Aragon. Among the dead were also Americans Stephen Michael Lotti, 28, and Sherra Young Gay. All other passengers and crew members were Peruvian.The aircraft involved was a 1981-built Boeing 737-244 Advanced registered OB-1809, which had been leased to TANS Perú from the South African lessor company Safair two months prior to the accident. With manufacturer's serial number 22580 and powered with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A engines, the airframe had its maiden flight on 4 August 1981, and was originally delivered to South African Airways. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had accumulated 49,865 flight hours and 45,262 cycles, and was years old.
The captain was 45-year-old Octavio Pérez Palma Garreta, who had 5,867 flight hours, including 3,763 hours on the Boeing 737. The first officer was 37-year-old Jorge Luis Pinto Panta, who had 4,755 flight hours, with 1,109 of them on the Boeing 737; 38-year-old Gonzalo Chirinos Delgado, a trainee pilot, was also on board. He had 2,700 flight hours, but only 61 of them on the Boeing 737.
Description of the accident
An unusual cold front was developing in the vicinity of Pucallpa, minutes before the event took place, with cloud tops estimated to be high. Instead of diverting to another airport, the crew initiated the approach to Pucallpa Airport with torrential rain, hail, and strong winds. Some 10 minutes before the scheduled time for landing, the aircraft started rocking. The aircraft flew through a hailstorm for the last 32 seconds of its ill-fated flight when it was taken down by wind shear, hit tree tops and impacted a swamp located ahead of the runway threshold. The aircraft broke up as it crashed and burst into flames, leaving a path of debris and flaming fuel wide and long. The wreckage of the airplane was engulfed by the fire.With 91 passengers and seven crew members on board, 35 passengers and five crew died in the accident. Non-Peruvian occupants of the aircraft included 11 Americans, one Australian, one Colombian, and one Spaniard; Italians were also aboard, but the actual number of them depends upon the source consulted. Most of the fatalities were recorded for passengers travelling in the front of the aircraft. Fifty-eight people survived the accident, many of them suffering burns and broken limbs.