Nature Air Flight 144
Debris at the crash site | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Summary | Stalled and crashed on climb-out over rising terrain |
| Site | 15 km (10 mi) east of Playa Sámara in the Nandayure canton, Punta Islita, Costa Rica |
| Aircraft | |
| TI-BEI, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 208 Caravan |
| Operator | Nature Air |
| IATA flight No. | 5C144 |
| ICAO flight No. | NRR144 |
| Call sign | Nature Air 144 |
| Registration | TI-BEI |
| Flight origin | Punta Islita Airport, Punta Islita, Costa Rica |
| Destination | Juan Santamaría International Airport, San José, Costa Rica |
| Occupants | 12 |
| Passengers | 10 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 12 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Nature Air Flight 144 crashed into terrain on 31 December 2017 shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita Airport in Nandayure, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, for a chartered domestic passenger flight to Costa Rica's capital San José killing all 12 people on board. The flight, with a planned duration of 40 minutes, was operated by Costa Rican regional airline Nature Air and the aircraft involved was a Cessna 208B Caravan manufactured in 2001. On board the aircraft were 10 passengers, mostly American tourists, and 2 pilots. An NTSB investigation later determined that the accident was caused by the aircraft entering an aerodynamic spin/stall that was the result of pilot error. Nature Air permanently ceased operations following the accident.