Date:	Friday 18 May 2018
Time:	12:10
Type:	Boeing 737-201 Advanced
Owner/operator:	Cubana de Aviación
Registration:	XA-UHZ
MSN:	21816/592
Year of manufacture:	1979
Total airframe hrs:	69596 hours
Cycles:	70651 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 112 / Occupants: 113
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	1 km E of Havana-José Martí International Airport (HAV) -   Cuba
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Havana-José Martí International Airport (HAV/MUHA)
Destination airport:	Holguín-Frank Pais Airport (HOG/MUHG)
Investigating agency:	CEIAA
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The Boeing 737-200, registration XA-UHZ crashed on takeoff from Havana-José Martí International Airport, Cuba. The aircraft came down in vegetation near a railway outside the airport, broke up and burst into flames. There were 107 passengers on board along with six Mexican crew members. Three passengers initially survived the accident. One survivor died on May 21 and a second died on May 25.
The aircraft was owned and operated by Mexican airline Damojh Aerolíneas, operating as Global Air, on behalf of Cubana. XA-UHZ began its operations in Cuba starting May 14, 2018.
On May 18, the day of the accident, the aircraft flew a trip from Havana to Santiago de Cuba and back, arriving at Havana at 10:20 hours local time. The next trip to be flight 972 to Holguín, Cuba, with a scheduled departure time of 11:00 hours.
In the preparation for this flight calculations were made of takeoff weight and weight distribution. The cabin configuration on the load sheet differed from the actual configuration of XA-UHZ.
Based on these data the Centre of Gravity (CG) was calculated to be at 17.4%. Actually it was 28.5%, close to the rear limit of the aircraft, which is 29%. Consequently the horizontal stabilizer trim was set at 5 3/4 units, instead of 3 1/4 units.
At 12:00 hours the flight was cleared to start the engines. Subsequently the aircraft was cleared to taxi to runway 06 for departure. In between working the checklists, the crew were engaged in non-flight related conversations.
After receiving clearance for takeoff, the aircraft began to accelerate down runway 06. As soon as it rotated from the runway, the aircraft attained a nose-high and right wing low attitude. The GPWS warning began to sound in the cockpit: "Bank angle, bang angle!" The bank angle reached 35° before the aircraft rolled back. It banked right and left several times with the nose reaching about 30 degrees nose up. The crew issued a Mayday call. The aircraft lost speed and began an uncontrolled descent until it impacted the ground about 40 seconds after lifting off the runway.

Most likely causes (translated from Spanish):
The CEIAA has considered that the most probable cause of the accident was the collapse of the aircraft, as a consequence of its entry into abnormal positions immediately after the separation of the landing gear from the runway surface (Lift off) during take-off, which led to the loss of control due to a chain of errors, with a preponderance in the human factor.
Contributing factors:
- inconsistencies in crew training;
- errors in weight and balance calculations;
- low operational standards manifested in flight.

14:55 UTC / 10:55 local time:
MUHA 181455Z 17006KT 140V220 9000 SCT013 OVC130 27/24 Q1015

15:55 UTC / 11:55 local time:
MUHA 181555Z 17004KT 140V220 9000 SCT017 OVC210 28/23 Q1015

16:55 UTC / 12:55 local time:
MUHA 181655Z 13005KT 090V190 9000 SCT018 OVC130 29/23 Q1015

Radio Coco
SCT Mexico

photo (c) CEIAA/NTSB; Havana-José Martí International Airport (HAV); 18 May 2018

photo (c) Alec Wilson; San José-Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO/MROC); 06 March 2011; (CC:by-sa)

photo (c) Keith Otto; Cancún Airport (CUN/MMUN); 01 October 2011; (CC:by-sa)

photo (c) Marco Garcia; Tijuana Airport (TIJ/MMTJ); 04 May 2018

Date/time	Contributor	Updates