ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 HC-BAX Zumba
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Status:
Date:Friday 22 May 1981
Type:Silhouette image of generic DHC6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Operator:TAME Ecuador
Registration: HC-BAX
MSN: 457
First flight: 1975
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 15
Total:Fatalities: 18 / Occupants: 18
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:near Zumba (   Ecuador)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO/SEQU), Ecuador
Destination airport:Macara Airport (MRR/SEMA), Ecuador
Narrative:
A DHC-6 Twin Otter plane, operated by TAME Ecuador and registered HC-BAX/FAE-457, was destroyed when it crashed into the side of a mountain. All 18 on board were killed.
Several reports indicate the plane crashed on May 21 or May 22 near Zumba, Ecuador.
Other reports suggest that the Twin Otter crashed while flying in formation with the Presidential Beechcraft 200 on May 24, 1981. This accident happened near Macará, Ecuador, killing Ecuadorian President Jaime Roldós Aguilera aboard the Beech 200. Newspaper reported at the time do however not report the simultaneous accident of the Twin Otter. It is thus considered probable that the Twin Otter crashed in a separate accident a few days earlier.

Sources:
» Military aviation disasters : significant losses since 1908 / D. Gero, 1999
» Turbo Prop Airliner Production List / J. Roach, A.B. Eastwood (2007)


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport to Macara Airport as the crow flies is 496 km (310 miles).
Accident location: Global; accuracy within tens or hundreds of kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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DHC-6 Twin Otter

  • 930+ built
  • 77th loss
  • 54th fatal accident
  • 2nd worst accident (at the time)
  • 20th worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

 Ecuador
  • 11th worst accident (at the time)
  • 18th worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

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