Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046
Ilyushin Il-62M · Crashed on takeoff, due to low altitude windshear and pilot error
From José Martí International Airport (HAV) to Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)
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
- 150 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 24
- Occupants
- 126
- 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
Ilyushin Il-62M
- Flight
- CU9046
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-62
- 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
- CU-T1281
- Operator
- Cubana
- Onboard fatalities
- 126
- Route
- From José Martí International Airport (HAV)To Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Psychological
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
Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046 was a chartered Ilyushin Il-62M airliner (registered CU-T1281) operated by Cubana, which crashed on 3 September 1989, shortly after takeoff from José Martí International Airport.
Flight 9046 was due to operate a non-scheduled international Havana-Cologne-Milan passenger service. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 126 occupants of the aircraft plus 24 people on the ground. It is the worst aviation disaster to have ever occurred in Cuba.
Accident
The aircraft took off in heavy rain and wind gusts of 30 - 50 mph. The crew retracted the flaps from their initial 30° position to 15°, in an attempt to gain speed, but this action reduced the ability of the wing to provide lift. The aircraft climbed to about 53 m, where it was hit by a downdraft that caused the airframe to strike the end of the runway, subsequently hitting a navigational facility and a small hill before crashing into a residential area, about one minute after takeoff. All 126 people on board —115 passengers, most of them Italian holidaymakers, and a crew of 11— perished in the accident. An additional 40 people on the ground were injured, including 24 fatally, as a result of the crash.
Investigation and cause
Cause
Investigators attributed the crash of Flight 9046 to the pilot's decision to fly after an abrupt deterioration in the meteorological conditions. The pilot underestimated the risks of taking off and misjudged the aircraft's performance in poor weather.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046” (revision 1356753742, 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: Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046
- Revision
- 1356753742 · 2026-05-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q5192135
- 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 "Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046" (page 36655294, revision 1356753742)
- 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
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- 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.