Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518
YV1449, the aircraft involved in the accident, four days before the crash | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 February 2008 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and navigational error |
| Site | Northwest of Alberto Carnevalli Airport, Mérida, Venezuela 8°39′33″N 71°14′17″W / 8.65917°N 71.23806°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | ATR 42-300 |
| Operator | Santa Bárbara Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | S3518 |
| ICAO flight No. | BBR518 |
| Call sign | SANTA BARBARA 518 |
| Registration | YV1449 |
| Flight origin | Alberto Carnevalli Airport, Mérida, Venezuela |
| Destination | Simón Bolívar International Airport, Caracas, Venezuela |
| Occupants | 46 |
| Passengers | 43 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 46 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 was an ATR 42–300 twin-turboprop aircraft, registration YV1449, operating as a scheduled domestic flight from Mérida, Venezuela, to Caracas that crashed into the side of a mountain on 21 February 2008, shortly after take-off. There were 43 passengers on board, with a crew consisting of two pilots and a flight attendant. The wreckage was discovered a day later with no survivors. It was the deadliest aviation accident involving an ATR 42 until Trigana Air Flight 267 crashed in Papua, Indonesia, in 2015 with 54 deaths.