Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas Sud Aviation Caravelle accident

A Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas Sud Aviation Caravelle accident occurred on 31 January 2001. A Sud Aviation Caravelle 10R of the Colombian cargo airline Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas crashed near El Yopal Airport after an engine failure. Three of the six people on board were killed in the accident. It is the last accident worldwide involving an aircraft of the Sud Aviation Caravelle type.

Accident sequence

The Caravelle was flying a cargo flight from Bogotá via El Yopal to Mitú. The cargo included 14 barrels containing a total of 3700 litres of petrol. The aircraft left El Yopal at 13:45. While attempting to land at Mitú, the landing gear touched down shortly before the threshold of runway 01. The crew flew a holding pattern and assessed the situation. The left main landing gear had broken off and a hydraulic leak was causing control problems. By switching from the yellow to the blue hydraulic system, the crew was able to regain control.

After the pilots had flown over the control tower at Mitú, the air traffic controller confirmed to them that the left main landing gear had been torn off. The flight crew then declared an emergency and informed the air traffic controller at Mitú that they would fly back to Bogotá. When the pilots found that they could not fully retract the high-lift devices, they decided to turn back to El Yopal.

The aircraft climbed to 10,000 feet and flew to El Yopal at this altitude. The pilots then noticed that the oil pressure of the left engine was dropping. They then shut down the engine. The aircraft subsequently began to lose altitude and speed. The pilots contacted air traffic control at El Yopal and informed them of the emergency. They decided to carry out another fly-by past the tower, whereupon the air traffic controller at El Yopal also confirmed to them that the aircraft's left main landing gear had sheared off. The crew then stated that they wanted to use up fuel from the left wing tank in order to avoid a fire on that side during the emergency landing. The fuel gauges were showing unreliable values and it was difficult to determine exactly the amount of fuel available and to be dumped, as the last part of the flight had been conducted under extraordinary conditions. Because of the fly-bys past the towers and flying with the landing gear half extended, the aircraft had used more kerosene than would have been usual on such a flight under normal conditions. It was decided to select the left fuel tank and continue using fuel until the low fuel level warning appeared.

The first officer recommended to the captain that the left engine be restarted before landing, so that thrust reversal would be available on both sides during landing. The captain rejected this suggestion. The captain flew the aircraft to the southwest of El Yopal Airport and instructed the first officer to fly even further away from the runway while he took his mobile phone to communicate with the airline's operations manager. When the low fuel level alarm activated, the pilots selected the right tank and the captain decided to turn back for a landing at El Yopal Airport. During the approach the right engine began to fail. The aircraft rapidly lost altitude until it struck the ground 4.9 miles from the threshold of runway 05. The aircraft caught fire after the impact and was completely destroyed.