This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
You can contribute by submitting additional or updated information.
| Date: | Tuesday 22 June 1999 |
| Time: | 9:30 |
| Type: |  Boeing 727-100 |
| Owner/operator: | Avensa |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 110 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Ambato-Chachoan Airport (ATF/SEAM) -
 Ecuador
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Lima Jorge Chavez International Airport (CCS/SPIM) |
| Latacunga Cotopaxi International Airport (LTX/SELT) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Since Quito - Mariscal Sucre Intl. Airport (UIO/SEQU) was closed due to runway maintenance between the 20th and 25th of June, flights operated to and from Latacunga - Cotopaxi Intl. Airport, including Avensa and Servivensa. On this day, a Boeing 727-100 of this company was completing its final approach to Latacunga on the Lima-Latacunga-Bogota-Caracas route.
After asking for landing clearance, the ATC controller reported not having the plane in sight and asked if the crew had the runway in sight, which they confirmed, so they were cleared to land at their discretion.The crew didn't know it then but they were, in fact, on short final to Ambato Chachoan's runway 01 by mistake. A few seconds before touching down, the crew realized that the runway was too short to be Latacunga's, so they probably tried to use as much runway as possible and ended up colliding their landing gear into the cemetery wall that fell down and the debris damaged a grave.
The flight touched down on runway 01 at 9:30 LT in the morning and managed to do a full stop at Chachoán to the full surprise of the local witnesses and ATC controller, leaving a big cloud of dust.
The crew, after noticing their error, made a 180° turn at Chachoan and immediately took off again to Latacunga. It's said that the ATC at Chachoan notified Latacunga's Airport, and when the B727 finally arrived at its original destination, DGAC (Ecuador's civil aviation authority) staff were waiting for the crew. The crew then denied the incident to DGAC's staff, but an inspection of their airplane revealed that it was full of mud, gravel, and grass on the landing gear due to the wrong landing at Ambato.
The airplane was checked, and supposedly they didn't encounter any damage to the landing gear or other parts of the plane, and they departed from Latacunga to Bogota at 17:20 LT.
Sources:
El Comercio (June 23, 1999) p. 1 & A11
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Feb-2025 07:13 | Diogo da Conceicao | Added |
| 17-Feb-2025 07:16 | ASN | Updated [Aircraft type, Country, ] |
| 03-Mar-2025 08:00 | Diogo da Conceicao | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2025 Flight Safety Foundation