Aerocon Flight 25
Swearingen SA-227AC Metro III · Crashed on the runway on landing due to windshear
From Teniente Av. Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport (TDD) to Capitán Av. Selin Zeitun Lopez Airport (RIB)
Event
- NTSB case
- DCA14WA007
- 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
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 8 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 18
- Survivors
- 10
- 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
- 10
- 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
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Swearingen SA-227AC Metro III
- Flight
- A425
- Aircraft type
- Swearingen SA-227
- Category
- Airplane
- 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
- CP-2754
- Operator
- Aerocon
- Onboard fatalities
- 8
- Route
- From Teniente Av. Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport (TDD)To Capitán Av. Selin Zeitun Lopez Airport (RIB)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Not recorded
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · IFR final approach
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Unknown or undetermined
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Riberalta, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
On 3 November 2013, Aerocon Flight 25, a domestic passenger flight operated by a SA-227AC Metro III, crashed upon landing at Riberalta Airport, Bolivia, due to windshear. Of the 18 people on board, 10 people survived; the remaining eight passengers died in the accident, including a six-year-old girl.
Accident
The flight took off from Teniente Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport in Trinidad at 14:58 local time on a domestic flight to Riberalta Airport, Riberalta. The Riberalta tower controller cleared the flight for an approach to runway 32, followed by a circling approach to runway 14. The controller reported winds at 7 knots. Visibility was 3,000 meters due to rain.
The flight reported passing the BIXIN waypoint at 15:55. At 15:57, the crew reported passing the EDNAX waypoint, located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) from the threshold of runway 32. The controller then warned the crew that the runway was wet and that visibility was reduced due to rain and fog. Upon landing, the aircraft veered to the right and went off the runway, overturning in a nearby field and catching fire shortly after impact. Around 500 people rushed to help the victims. Armed with sticks, metal bars, and other objects, they forced open the aircraft to rescue the injured. They managed to pull out only ten survivors; the other eight perished in the fire, including a six-year-old girl identified as Rossío Álvarez.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation was conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), which had access to the flight recorder audio that captured the cockpit conversation between the pilot and the co-pilot. The audio lasted 33 minutes, during which 17 instances were recorded where the crew discussed the bad weather conditions in Riberalta, as well as their contact with the control tower in Guayaramerín, which was considered as an alternative landing site.
In the audio, the co-pilot can be heard mentioning the presence of a cumulonimbus (a black water-laden cloud) at the runway threshold, which obstructed visibility. What ultimately caused the aircraft to crash was actually a windshear from behind, which pushed it downward, causing the aircraft to lose lift, overturn, and crash onto the runway.
After nearly two years, it was concluded that the accident was not only due to human error and bad weather but also the shared responsibility of other entities tasked with overseeing aviation operations.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aerocon Flight 25” (revision 1358213951, 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
NTSB narrative
The government of Bolivia has notified the NTSB of an accident involving a SWEARINGEN SA227 airplane that occurred on November 03, 2013. The NTSB has appointed a U.S. Accredited Representative to assist the government of Bolivia's investigation under the provisions of ICAO Annex 13 as the State of Manufacturer and Design of the airplane.All investigative information will be released by the government of Bolivia.
Verbatim NTSB factual narrative from the NTSB dataset
Sources
Wikipedia article: Aerocon Flight 25
- Article
- Aerocon Flight 25
- Revision
- 1358213951 · 2026-06-07 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q126114167
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record DCA14WA007
- Event ID
- 20131104X03143
- Case number
- DCA14WA007
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Aerocon Flight 25" (page 79561562, revision 1358213951); merged with NTSB case DCA14WA007 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia: place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record DCA14WA007
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Reviewed (2026-09-19): DGAC Bolivia (AIG) 2013 occurrence report, https://www.dgac.gob.bo/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Reporte_Sucesos_2013.pdf
- Ground fatalities
- Reviewed (2026-09-19): DGAC Bolivia (AIG) 2013 occurrence report, https://www.dgac.gob.bo/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Reporte_Sucesos_2013.pdf
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (3)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "Aerocon Flight 25" and NTSB case DCA14WA007, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- Death toll settled: the NTSB record (DCA14WA007) gives 10 and the Wikipedia article 8; DGAC Bolivia (AIG) 2013 occurrence report gives 8. DGAC records 8 passengers fatally injured, and 2 crew plus 8 passengers seriously injured (18 aboard). The NTSB's 10 matches the number of survivors or injured, not deaths, so it is a notification error.
- No bulk values were replaced by the NTSB case API.