ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 209387
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| Date: | Wednesday 5 July 1972 |
| Time: | 17:45 |
| Type: |  Beechcraft C50 Twin Bonanza |
| Owner/operator: | Texaco Ecuador |
| Registration: | HC-AMR |
| MSN: | CH-309 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Cerro Atacazo -
 Ecuador
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | SEQU |
| SEGU |
Plane departed Quito at 17:28LT with Colonel Francisco Escobar on command carrying Chief of Texaco Ecuador John E. Caston as the only passenger.
According to the flight plan, the aircraft was scheduled to land at Guayaquil Airport at 19:25LT and it was established that after taking off from Quito, the pilot had VFR visual flight plan on the Quito - Santo Domingo de los Colorados route and IFR instrumental plan, from that place to Guayaquil. It was learned that the aircraft's communications equipment was in perfect working order at the time prior to the flight. The alarm was raised in Guayaquil due to the delay in the arrival of the plane, representatives of the Gulf Company who were at the Guayaquil airport awaiting the arrival of Mr. Caston contacted the authorities and the Rescue Coordination Center and Search for the Directorate of Civil Aviation from Ecuador. An emergency was declared but a rescue team search could not be attempted due to the night.
The next morning an Ecuavía helicopter took off from Quito and began the search following the route of the plane to Guayaquil. At 07:20LT, the helicopter pilot reported having located the completely destroyed aircraft in the Cerro El Atacazo sector between the Monjas and Saloya rivers at an altitude of 13,500 feet. The helicopter had to return to Quito due to technical failures that almost caused a second tragedy. Members of the Special Forces and Texaco personnel returned to the accident site to begin the rescue after 13:00LT and collected the bodies of the pilot and his passenger.
It's known that the wings of the plane were a considerable distance away and had detached from the fuselage, preventing it from catching fire. The cockpit and the rest of the fuselage were in a single pile of twisted iron.
It was presumed at that time that a strong air current reached the plane, precipitating it to the ground due to the foothills of Atacazo and other peaks that generate wind currents in the accident area.
Sources:
El Informador 7 July 1972, p7A
El Comercio 7 July 1972, p1, p13
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Apr-2018 13:25 | TB | Added |
| 15-Apr-2020 06:04 | Juan Carlos Sosa T. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 28-Sep-2023 06:38 | Diogo da Conceição | Updated [[Narrative]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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