Aviaco Flight 118

Aviaco Flight 118 was a Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle operated by Aviaco that crashed in the village of Montrove, Spain, on 13 August 1973, while attempting to land at Alvedro Airport in heavy fog. The aircraft crashed into several houses approximately 2 km from the airport. All 85 persons on board perished in the crash and subsequent fire. One person in the village also died.

Background

Flight 118 was a seasonal daily flight from Madrid to A Coruña favoured by tourists. Local news reports indicated that AO118 was a special "vacation flight" run by Aviaco during the summer season, so as to provide easy access to Galicia's numerous ocean-side resorts.

Accident

The aircraft had taken off normally from Madrid at 9:14 a.m. CEST. After an uneventful journey, the commander contacted the control tower at La Coruña Airport at 10:14, and was informed of the poor visibility in the area at that time. Despite being advised to stand by in anticipation of an early improvement in weather conditions, the crew began a first approach at 10:23 to check the actual visibility. The manoeuvre was frustrated, and the aircraft returned to an altitude of 2000 metres.

After a second unsuccessful approach, at 11:20 the tower warned Flight 118 that the fog was lifting, and that the horizontal visibility had increased to about 1500 metres and the vertical visibility was close to 300 metres. At 11:39, the crew reported that they had begun a new approach, this being the last communication received by the airport control tower. Shortly afterwards the aircraft hit eucalyptus trees, struck the ground and collided with several houses before bursting into flames.