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Kibón tragedy

14 Nov 1971 · Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay

National Navy of Uruguay Sikorsky H-34 · Helicopter crashed on a beach

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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
8 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
Unknown
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
40
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
Military

Sikorsky H-34

Aircraft type
Sikorsky H-34
Category
Helicopter · 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
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
8
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded

Approximate · Estimated position: Pocitos, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.

From the Wikipedia article

The Kibón tragedy was an event that occurred on Sunday 14 November 1971 in the car park of the Kibón beach restaurant, in the Pocitos neighbourhood, Montevideo, Uruguay. That day, around 20,000 people went to the coast to attend a festival on the occasion of the 154th anniversary of the Uruguayan National Navy, an event in which a Sikorksy H-34 helicopter crashed due to a bad manoeuvre over the beach, killing 8 people and injuring another 40.

As a result of the helicopter's crashing fall, its blades decapitated some civilians, while several survivors had limbs severed, whether arms or legs.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Spanish Wikipedia article “Tragedia de Kibón” (revision 168138713, 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

Spanish Wikipedia article: Tragedia de Kibón
Article
Tragedia de Kibón
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
168138713 · 2025-06-25 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q105242671
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
es Wikipedia article "Tragedia de Kibón" (page 9780118, revision 168138713), 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 named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Spanish Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.