Date:	Sunday 24 August 2008
Time:	09:41
Type:	Cessna 208 Caravan I
Owner/operator:	Aéreo Ruta Maya
Registration:	TG-JCS
MSN:	20800327
Year of manufacture:	2000
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 14
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	near La Puente, Cabañas, Zacapa -   Guatemala
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport (GUA/MGGT)
Destination airport:	El Estor Airport
Investigating agency:	SVIA
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 208 Caravan I operated by Aéreo Ruta Maya was destroyed in an accident near Cabañas, Zacapa, Guatemala. Three of the fourteen occupants survived the accident.
The airplane had taken off from Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport (GUA) at 09:23 and was heading for El Estor. Some 18 minutes into the flight the pilot declared an emergency, stating they were 38 miles from La Aurora. The airplane could not maintain altitude and impacted terrain during an attempted forced landing. A post impact fire broke out.

PROBABLE CAUSE (translated from Spanish):
The sudden engine failure during flight, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, the aircraft impacting unsuitable terrain at a descent angle. The engine power loss was caused by the fracture of more than one compressor turbine blade, the impact of the blades in the inner parts general causing damage on the internal mechanism of the turbine station. The gas generator was rotating at low speed with the propeller feathered on the first impact with the ground.
The high concentration of fire in the compressor section and in the combustion chamber, possibly indicate that several attempts were made on the engine to cause the compressor to continue working after losing the blades.

Ocho muertos en accidente aéreo en Zacapa (Prensa Libre, 24-8-2008)

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