SAHSA Lockheed L-188 Electra accident
Lockheed L-188 Electra · The SAHSA Lockheed L-188 Electra accident occurred on 8 January 1981
From La Aurora International Airport (GUA) to Toncontín Airport (TGU)
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
- 6 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- 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
- 38
- 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
Lockheed L-188 Electra
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed L-188
- 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
- HR-SAW
- Operator
- Sahsa
- Onboard fatalities
- 6
- Route
- From La Aurora International Airport (GUA)To Toncontín Airport (TGU)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- 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 SAHSA Lockheed L-188 Electra accident occurred on 8 January 1981. On that day a Lockheed L-188 Electra of the Honduran airline SAHSA, which was being flown on an international positioning flight from Guatemala City to Tegucigalpa, went out of control during the initial climb phase and crashed into a residential area in the city centre of Guatemala City. Only the six 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
Before the takeoff from Guatemala City to Tegucigalpa, one of the engines and a generator failed. The passengers disembarked and the captain decided to fly the aircraft to Tegucigalpa for repairs with only three functioning engines. Less than one minute after takeoff, during the initial climb, the pilots reported a critical situation and requested clearance for an immediate return. During a final turn the aircraft lost altitude. It crashed into a residential area located 1,500 metres from the airport and burst into flames. All six occupants were killed and 38 people on the ground were injured. The aircraft and several houses were destroyed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It was determined that a second generator had failed during the initial climb for unknown reasons. Due to insufficient power, the hydraulic pressure fell below the minimum. In addition, the airspeed decreased and a stall occurred. The fact that the aircraft did not have the correct trim for takeoff was considered a contributing factor.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Lockheed L-188 Electra der SAHSA” (revision 258180013, 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 Lockheed L-188 Electra der SAHSA
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 258180013 · 2025-07-21 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q97813725
- 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 Lockheed L-188 Electra der SAHSA" (page 11388686, revision 258180013), 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 plus ground fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- 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.