Viasa Flight 742

Viasa Flight 742 was an international, scheduled passenger flight from Caracas, Venezuela to Miami International Airport, United States with an intermediate stopover in Maracaibo, Venezuela that crashed on 16 March 1969. After taking off on the Maracaibo to Miami leg, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 hit a series of power lines before crashing into the La Trinidad section of Maracaibo. All 84 people on board died, as well as 71 on the ground. The crash was the world's deadliest civil air disaster in the late 1960s.

Accident

The first leg of the flight, from Caracas to Maracaibo, carried 57 people; 47 passengers and 10 crew members. The flight crew of the first leg consisted of two captains: Harry Gibson and Emiliano Savelli Maldonado.

The aircraft arrived at Maracaibo at 10:30. Captain Gibson disembarked and Captain Maldonado became the pilot in command of the last leg. The new first officer was Jose Gregorio Rodriguez Silva. 27 more passengers boarded the aircraft, which was loaded with 12000 kg of jet fuel.

Flight 742 began its takeoff roll at 12:00. As the DC-9 headed toward the Ziruma district, it failed to gain altitude, and the plane's left engine struck a power pole. As the plane banked left, a reflector struck the fuel tank, spilling fuel. After hitting another power pole, the plane's left wing was ripped off and the left engine exploded into flames. The plane crashed in a small park in La Trinidad. The impact was so hard that the right engine was torn off the plane and impacted a house.