West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
The wreckage of Flight 708 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 August 2005 |
| Summary | Deep stall due to pilot error and autopilot malfunction |
| Site | Machiques, Zulia, Venezuela 9°39′59″N 72°36′40″W / 9.66639°N 72.61111°W |
| Aircraft | |
| HK-4374X, the aircraft involved, photographed on 27 July 2005, 20 days before the accident | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 |
| Operator | West Caribbean Airways (chartered by the Globe Trotters de Rivière Salée travel agency) |
| IATA flight No. | YH708 |
| ICAO flight No. | WCW708 |
| Call sign | WEST 708 |
| Registration | HK-4374X |
| Flight origin | Tocumen International Airport, Panama |
| Destination | Martinique Aimé Césaire Int'l Airport, Martinique |
| Occupants | 160 |
| Passengers | 152 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 160 |
| Survivors | 0 |
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a charter flight that crashed in northwest Venezuela in the early hours of 16 August 2005, killing all 160 passengers and crew on board. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registration HK-4374X, was en route from Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama, to Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Fort-de-France, Martinique, France. While flying at 33,000 ft (10,000 m), the aircraft's speed gradually decreased until it entered an aerodynamic stall. The crew, probably under the mistaken belief that the aircraft had suffered a double engine flameout, did not take the necessary actions to recover from the stall. The confusion and lack of action resulted in the crash.: 123–124
The death toll made the accident the deadliest of 2005, as well as the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Venezuela, and the second deadliest involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series.