1978 Douglas DC-6 accident in Guatemala City
Aviateca Douglas DC-6B · The 1978 Douglas DC-6 accident in Guatemala City occurred on 8 June 1978
From Miami International Airport (MIA) to La Aurora International Airport (GUA)
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
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
Douglas DC-6B
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-6
- 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
- TG-ADA
- Operator
- Aviateca
- Onboard fatalities
- 3
- Route
- From Miami International Airport (MIA)To La Aurora International Airport (GUA)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Guatemala City, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1978 Douglas DC-6 accident in Guatemala City occurred on 8 June 1978. On that day a Douglas DC-6B of the airline Aviateca with three crew members on board, which was being used to fly an animal transport from Miami to Guatemala City, went out of control on approach and crashed onto a football pitch in the city centre of Guatemala City. The three crew members were killed in the accident. Although the aircraft crashed within the urban area of Guatemala's capital, there were no fatalities on the ground.
Accident sequence
The animal transport that had taken off in Miami was on approach to Guatemala City when the captain reported problems with the oil pressure of one engine. When the aircraft was on final approach to La Aurora Airport 20 minutes later, the animals being transported moved about in the cargo area, which led to a considerable shift in the centre of gravity. The captain lost control of the aircraft and tried to make a crash landing on a small football pitch surrounded by houses. The aircraft struck the ground with a bank angle of 30 degrees, killing the crew and destroying the aircraft. The crash site was confined almost entirely to the football pitch. None of the surrounding houses was damaged, and although the aircraft had crashed within the urban area, nobody on the ground was harmed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It was determined that the animals in the cargo hold had not been properly tied down and began to move during final approach, which led to a shift in the centre of gravity, as a result of which the aircraft became uncontrollable.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Douglas DC-6 in Guatemala-Stadt 1978” (revision 252109126, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall einer Douglas DC-6 in Guatemala-Stadt 1978
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 252109126 · 2025-01-10 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q97632973
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall einer Douglas DC-6 in Guatemala-Stadt 1978" (page 11387682, revision 252109126), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- 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)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.