| 1947 Avianca Douglas DC-4 crash | |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Summary: | CFIT due to pilot/navigation error |
| Site: | Mount El Tablazo, near Bogotá, Colombia |
| Aircraft Type: | Douglas DC-4 |
| Operator: | Avianca |
| Tail Number: | C-114 |
| Origin: | Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, Barranquilla |
| Destination: | Aeropuerto de Techo, Bogotá |
| Passengers: | 49 |
| Crew: | 4 |
| Fatalities: | 53 |
| Survivors: | 0 |
On February 15, 1947, an Avianca Douglas DC-4 registered C-114 crashed into Mount El Tablazo en route from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.[1]
Mount El Tablazo was shrouded in fog when, at 12:18 local time, the aircraft crashed into it at an elevation of about 10,500 feet. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error, with the crew deviating from the designated airway and flying below a safe altitude.[2]
At the time, the crash was the worst commercial airline crash in history, [3] eventually matched by the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 near Baltimore three months later. Several Colombian professional soccer players from Barranquilla perished in the crash, including Romelio Martínez, after whom Barranquilla's municipal stadium was renamed years later.