TACA Flight 390

TACA Flight 390 was a scheduled flight on May 30, 2008, by TACA International from San Salvador, El Salvador, to Miami, Florida, United States, with intermediate stops at Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in Honduras. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, overran the runway after landing at Tegucigalpa's Toncontín International Airport and rolled out into a street, crashing into an embankment and smashing several cars in the process.

El Salvador's Civil Aviation Authority spearheaded the investigation, which attributed the accident to pilot error. The crew opted to go around after failing to stabilise their first approach. The pilots, who became increasingly frustrated due to the deteriorating weather condition and their difficult approach, misjudged the distance that they required for landing. The aircraft touched down well beyond its recommended zone. The preceding tailwind, heavy weight of the aircraft, and wet runway hindered the aircraft's deceleration during the roll, causing the aircraft to not lose speed quickly enough and eventually to run off the runway.

Accident

Flight 390 was a short-haul flight from San Salvador to the Honduran capital of Tegucicalpa that would later continue to Miami, Florida. On 30 May 2008, the aircraft operating the flight was carrying 124 passengers and 11 crew members. The flight was scheduled to take off at 08:45 local time, with an expected time of arrival at 09:45 a.m. It took off from Comalapa Airport at 09:05 a.m.

Crash

Shortly after touching down, the crew pulled the thrust lever and armed the aircraft's ground spoilers. The aircraft was rolling at a speed of 160 knots, and gradually decreasing. After momentarily activating the autobrake, the crew began applying manual braking, before releasing them for a few seconds and then pressing them again. The crew stepped progressively deeper on the pedals until it reached its maximum braking. The Airbus A320 was still travelling at a ground speed of 90 knots.

The pilots put the thrust into the forward idle position and all except the right and left hand spoilers were retracted. The aircraft was still not decelerating at an acceptable rate. As the end of the runway became closer, the antiskid was turned off and the spoilers were fully extended. Feeling desperate, both pilots applied parking brake. By then, the aircraft was already a few hundred feet from the cliff.

Failing to stop, the aircraft ran off at a speed of 54 kn and flew a little before it came crashing down onto a public road and smashed through passing vehicles. A total of 2 cars, including a taxi, and one motorcycle were hit by the Airbus A320. The aircraft broke into three main sections, with the front part of the aircraft and the avionics bay pushing through the business class, causing numerous injuries to the occupants.

Seconds after coming into a stop, hysteria quickly set in inside the cabin. Fire began to erupt on the right wing after a pole tore through it. Coincidentally, a fire truck was travelling on the road and immediately extinguished the flames. Meanwhile, airport personnel at Toncontín deployed rescue services to the crash site. Survivors began pouring out from the opened doors and also breaks within the airframe. Rescuers attempted to rescue the occupants who were trapped inside the business class, who were trapped by the avionics and parts of the aircraft that had pushed through the floor and walls.