Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940 explained

Image Caption:A Mexicana Boeing 727, similar to the one involved
Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940
Occurrence Type:Accident
Date:March 31, 1986
Type:In-flight fire due to maintenance error, leading to loss of hydraulic and electrical systems
Site:Sierra Madre Occidental, near Maravatío, Michoacán, Mexico
Aircraft Type:Boeing 727-264
Aircraft Name:Veracruz
Operator:Mexicana de Aviacion
Iata:MX940
Icao:MXA940
Callsign:MEXICANA 940
Tail Number:XA-MEM
Origin:Benito Juárez International Airport
Stopover0:Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport
Last Stopover:General Rafael Buelna International Airport
Destination:Los Angeles International Airport
Occupants:167
Passengers:159
Crew:8
Fatalities:167
Survivors:0

Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940, operated by Mexicana de Aviación, was a scheduled international flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles with stopovers in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán on March 31, 1986, utilizing a Boeing 727-200 registered as XA-MEM,[1] [2] when the plane crashed into El Carbón, a mountain in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range northwest of Mexico City, killing everyone on board.[3] With 167 deaths, the crash of Flight 940 is the deadliest aviation disaster ever on Mexican soil, and the deadliest involving a Boeing 727.[4]

Background

The aircraft involved was delivered to Mexicana in 1981[5] and was named "Veracruz". The plane was commanded by Captain Carlos Alberto Guadarrama Sixtos, who joined Mexicana in December 1971, clocked a number of 6,328 hours of total flying experience. The first officer was Philip Louis Piaget Rhorer, hired by Mexicana in April 1980, he had a little over 1,769 total flying hours. And the second officer, Ángel Carlos Peñasco Espinoza, was hired by Mexicana in 1982, and had a total of 1,142 total flying hours. The crew of eight included five flight attendants. The wife of Captain Guadarrama, who was a retired flight attendant, and Guadarrama's son and daughter were also among the 159 passengers on board.[6] At 08:50 local time, the plane took off from Benito Juárez International Airport en route to Los Angeles International Airport with scheduled stopovers in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán.[7] The plane carried 147 passengers (139 passengers and 8 crew members) from Mexico, 8 from France, 6 from the United States, 4 from Sweden, and 2 from Canada.[8]

Nationality Passengers Crew Total
Mexico 139 8 147
France 8 0 8
United States 6 0 6
Sweden 4 0 4
Canada 2 0 2
Total 159 8 167

Crash

At 09:05, fifteen minutes after takeoff, an explosion rocked the fuselage. Captain Guadarrama and the crew in the cockpit, realizing that the plane was shaking too much, declared an emergency and asked to return to Benito Juárez International Airport.[9] The airport was prepared for an emergency landing. However, the aircraft crashed into El Carbón mountain near the town of Maravatío, Michoacán, broke in two and burst into flames.[9] All 167 passengers and crew were killed upon impact. Among the dead were two film scouts for the horror film Predator. Eyewitnesses reported details of the crash to authorities. The local police and the Mexican army were dispatched to the crash site.[10]

Investigation

Initially, two Middle Eastern terrorist groups claimed responsibility for this crash, along with the bombing of TWA Flight 840, which occurred two days later. An anonymous letter signed by those groups claimed that a suicide mission had sabotaged the plane in retaliation against the United States.[11] [12] However, sabotage was later dismissed as a cause of the crash. The investigations were carried out by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Mexican aeronautical authorities, who found the cause of the accident to be an LH main landing gear tire filled with compressed air, instead of nitrogen.[9] In addition, the tire had some marks of overheating. The investigators later found that the overheating was caused by a malfunctioning brake on the landing gear.

Aftermath

Mexicana maintenance personnel were blamed for negligence in maintaining the 727 and for filling the tire with compressed air, instead of nitrogen. About a year after the crash, the U.S. FAA released an Airworthiness Directive[13] requiring the use of dry nitrogen (or other gases shown to be inert) when filling the tires on braked wheels of most commercial airliners. The crash remains the deadliest airline disaster in Mexican history[14] and is the world's deadliest air disaster involving the Boeing 727. The cause of the in-flight fire is believed to be the rupture of fuel lines by the exploding tire.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: INFORME Y DICTAMEN DE ACCIDENTE – 31 DE MARZO DE 1986 – AERONAVE BOEING 727-200 MATRICULA XA-MEM – CERRO DE SAN MIGUEL EL ALTO, MUNICIPIO DE MARAVATIO, ESTADO DE MICHOACAN . ACCIDENT REPORT AND FINDINGS - 31 MARCH 1986 - AIRCRAFT BOEING 727-200 REGISTRATION XA-MEM - CERRO DE SAN MIGUEL EL ALTO, MUNICIPALITY OF MARAVATIO, STATE OF MICHOACAN . 27 July 2024 . Federal Civil Aviation Agency, Mexico . es . Final report . Aviation Safety Network.
  2. Web site: Ranter. Harro. ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-264 XA-MEM Las Mesas. 8 January 2018. Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation.
  3. News: Seiler. Michael. April 1, 1986. All 166 on Jet Die in Mexican Crash. Los Angeles Times. 8 January 2018.
  4. Web site: Ranter . Harro . Boeing 727 . 2018-11-20 . Aviation Safety Network . Flight Safety Foundation.
  5. Web site: XA-MEM - Boeing 727-264(Adv) - 22414 . 8 January 2018 . JetPhotos.
  6. Web site: Pilot's Family Killed, Wife Had Survived Earlier Crash With Mexico-Plane. www.apnewsarchive.com. 8 January 2018.
  7. Web site: 31 March 2016. La mayor tragedia aérea en el país; 166 personas murieron hace 30 años. The greatest air tragedy in the country; 166 people died 30 years ago. 8 January 2018. es.
  8. News: 1 April 1986 . Un Boeing 727 se estrella en México con 166 personas a bordo . A Boeing 727 crashes in Mexico with 166 people on board . 28 October 2013 . El País . Newspaper library El País . Spain . es.
  9. Web site: The Crash of Mexicana de Aviacion Flight 940. ecperez.blogspot.co.nz. 29 September 2009. 8 January 2018.
  10. News: 1986-04-02 . Bodies recovered from mountain crash site . 8 January 2018 . United Press International.
  11. News: Levi . Isaac A. . 1986-04-04 . Mexican jet pilots claim plane crash caused by explosion . . Associated Press . 2023-10-19.
  12. News: April 5, 1986 . Mexican jet crash was revenge for U.S. attack on Libya: note . 8 January 2018 . The Montreal Gazette.
  13. Web site: AD 87-08-09 . rgl.faa.gov . 1 August 2020 . 17 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220217164249/https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAD.nsf/AOCADSearch/55850E6389EFBA3C8625695B006723A3?OpenDocument . dead .
  14. News: Fields . Dana . May 23, 1986 . Explosion, fire preceded plane crash that killed 167 . . . 2023-10-19.