Central American Airways Flight 731
Let L-410UVP-E20 · Controlled flight into terrain
From Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport (SAP) to Toncontín Airport (TGU)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 14 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 14
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Let L-410UVP-E20
- Aircraft type
- Let L-410
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- HR-AUQ
- Operator
- Central American Airways
- Onboard fatalities
- 14
- Route
- From Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport (SAP)To Toncontín Airport (TGU)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Miscellaneous
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Central American Airways Flight 731 was a passenger flight which crashed on approach to Toncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on February 14, 2011. All 14 on board died. The aircraft involved, a Let L-410 Turbolet, was operating Central American Airlines' scheduled domestic service from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa.
Accident
Flight 731 had taken off from La Mesa International Airport in San Pedro Sula at 07:04 local time (13:04 UTC) on February 14 for a 40-minute flight to Toncontín airport in Tegucigalpa. On board were twelve passengers and two crew.
At around 07:35, the Turbolet initiated a non-precision approach to runway 20 at Toncontín, which is situated at an elevation of 3300 ft. Meteorological conditions at the time were such that the cloud base was lower than surrounding high ground. Wind shear and mountain wave were also present at altitude.
At 07:51, the crew discontinued the approach and was authorised by air traffic control to attempt an approach to the opposite runway 02. Dialogues captured by the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) suggest that the crew was receiving conflicting indications from the on board navigation instruments, but at 08:00, while continuing its descent, the crew reported to be on final approach.
Around two minutes later, the CVR recorded the five hundred and minimum calls by the on-board ground proximity warning system, followed by a terrain, pull up call. There was no reaction by the crew. The aircraft impacted a hillside near El Espino, in the Jurisdicción de Santa Ana, at an elevation of 5400 ft.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation report by the accident investigation board of Honduras' Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) stated that weather was a factor in the accident. During the approach, the aircraft was flown at a speed only slightly higher than its stall speed, and in such conditions, wind shear could result in a stall from which recovery could be impossible before impact with the ground.
The DGAC found that the crew did not adhere to any published approach procedure and possibly misinterpreted the altimeter and airspeed indicators. During the descent, the captain did not check his approach chart and relied instead on the first officer for guidance through the approach. Communication and crew resource management were described as inadequate, and no approach briefing was carried out for any of the two approaches.
Finally, the aircraft was prematurely configured for landing with full flaps while still at a considerable distance from the runway, making it more vulnerable to the effects of wind shear. Eleven safety recommendations were made.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Central American Airways Flight 731” (revision 1368421245, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Central American Airways Flight 731
- Revision
- 1368421245 · 2026-08-08 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q5060325
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Central American Airways Flight 731" (page 30870251, revision 1368421245)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.