Aviaco Flight 231
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 · Hard landing resulted in the fuselage separation
From Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) to F.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport (GRX)
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
- Unknown
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 99
- Survivors
- 99
- 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
- 26
- 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
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
- Flight
- AO231
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9
- 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
- EC-BYH
- Operator
- Aviaco
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)To F.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport (GRX)
Approximate · Estimated position: F.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
Aviaco Flight 231 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Granada Airport. On 30 March 1992, the aircraft slammed into the runway during the approach, breaking the fuselage into two parts. All 99 occupants survived the crash.
Accident
On that day, during the approach to runway 09 at Granada Airport, the aircraft encountered an 11-knot tailwind and heavy rain. At 20:20, in the roll-out, the aircraft's landing gear struck the runway with a vertical force of 4.49g, causing the aircraft to burst all of its main landing gear and bounce off. The plane flew for 36 meters before falling back onto the runway with a deceleration of 4.79g.As a result of the impact, the fuselage broke incompletely into two parts. As the plane skidded down the runway, it veered to one side, tearing apart the fuselage completely, and came to rest in two pieces about 100 meters apart.
All 94 passengers and 5 crew on board survived the crash. There were 26 injuries, 14 of which were reported seriously injured.
Investigation and cause
Cause
As stated in the declarations of Aviaco's director of operations, the most probable cause of the accident was the bad weather presented during landing: strong winds with windshear and rain. The bad weather possibly prevented the aircraft from having a stabilized approach and hit the ground with great force, although some media also collect testimonies from passengers who claim that the maneuvers carried out by the crew during the landing were not the usual ones.
Iberia (the airline that owned 65% of Aviaco) also opened the avenue of investigation to see if the accident had been caused by a tire blowout at the moment of contact with the runway that could have triggered the sequence of subsequent events.
Following statements from numerous witnesses, the crew requested to undergo a voluntary breathalyzer test to demonstrate their transparency, but the request was denied.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aviaco Flight 231” (revision 1371765553, 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: Aviaco Flight 231
- Article
- Aviaco Flight 231
- Revision
- 1371765553 · 2026-08-28 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q104913715
- 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 "Aviaco Flight 231" (page 82308092, revision 1371765553)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- 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: 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.