Date:	Saturday 21 October 1989
Time:	07:53
Type:	Boeing 727-224
Owner/operator:	TAN Honduras, lsf Continental Air Lines
Registration:	N88705
MSN:	19514/597
Year of manufacture:	1968
Engine model:	P&W JT8D-9A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 131 / Occupants: 146
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	9 km S of Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport (TGU) -   Honduras
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Managua-Augusto C. Sandino Airport (MGA/MNMG)
Destination airport:	Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport (TGU/MHTG)
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
TAN flight 414, a Boeing 727, impacted a mountain while on approach to Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport, Honduras, killing 131 occupants; 15 survived the accident.

Flight 414 was a scheduled service from San José (SJO), Costa Rica to Tegucigalpa (TGU), Honduras with an intermediate stop at Managua (MGA), Nicaragua.
At the end of the final leg of the flight, the crew were cleared by Tegucigalpa ATC for the VOR/DME runway 01 approach, which includes a series of three step-downs from the initial approach fix altitude of 7500 ft MSL to avoid high terrain in the neighborhood of the airport. Rather than following the prescribed step-down procedure, however, the crew began a continuous descent from about 7600 ft MSL at about 11 NM from the airport to the accident site. The aircraft’s descent profile was well below the published step-down course for the entire approach. The aircraft impacted a mountain known as Cerro de Hula at the 4800 ft MSL elevation, approximately 800 ft below the summit, 4.8 NM from the Tegucigalpa runway 01 threshold. At impact, the aircraft was in approach configuration.

Investigation of Controlled Flight into Terrain : Descriptions of Flight Paths for Selected Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) Aircraft Accidents, 1985-1997 / Robert O. Phillips, U.S. DoT (DOT-TSC-FA9D1-99-01)
ICAO Adrep Summary 1/90 (#12)

photo (c) Alexander Josue Hernandez; 08 May 2017

photo (c) FAA

photo (c) via W. Fischdick; Miami International Airport, FL (MIA); March 1989

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Oct-2024 09:49	ASN	Updated [Narrative, ]