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1993 aviation accident

SAM Colombia Flight 501
Accident
A SAM Colombia Boeing 727, similar to the one involved
Date	19 May 1993 (1993-05-19)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain caused by pilot error in inclement weather
Site	Mt. Paramo Frontino, near José María Córdova International Airport, Medellín, Colombia
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-46
Operator	SAM Colombia
IATA flight No.	MM501
ICAO flight No.	SAM501
Call sign	SAM 501
Registration	HK-2422X
Flight origin	Tocumen International Airport, Panama City, Panama
Stopover	José María Córdova International Airport, Medellín, Colombia
Destination	El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá, Colombia
Occupants	132
Passengers	125
Crew	7
Fatalities	132
Survivors	0

SAM Colombia Flight 501 was a Boeing 727-46 that crashed on 19 May 1993, killing all 132 on board. The aircraft collided with a mountain while on approach to Medellín, Colombia.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-46, registered as HK-2422X (factory no. 18876, serial no. 217), which was built in 1965 and had its maiden flight on December 30 of that year. The aircraft was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7A turbofan engines. The aircraft was delivered to Japan Airlines on January 7, 1966, and was registered as JA8309. On November 16, 1972, the airliner was leased to Korean Air, where it was re-registered as HL7309. On November 9, 1980, Korean Air sold the aircraft to SAM Colombia, where it was re-registered as HK-2422X.

The captain was 31-year-old Mauricio Oswaldo Vacca Mejía, qualified in May 1992 as a Boeing 727 commander, he had clocked a total of 3,943 flying hours. His first officer, 29-year-old Julio César Andrade Granados, had a total of 1,651 flying hours, and worked as a flight engineer prior to qualifying as a co-pilot in February 1993. And 45-year-old Flight Engineer Jaime Eduardo Martínez Basallo had a total of 553 hours with SAM Colombia ever since he was employed in mid-1992.

Accident

At 14:18, Flight 501 took off from Panama City, Panama, bound for Bogotá, Colombia, with a stopover in Medellín. The aircraft climbed to flight level 160 (about 16,000 feet (4,900 m)). On board were 7 crew members and 125 passengers, including several Panamanian dentists on their way to a convention.

Thunderstorm activity in the area made automatic direction finder (ADF) navigation more difficult, and the Medellín VOR/DME was unusable, having been attacked by terrorists. The crew reported over the Abejorral NDB beacon at FL160, as they were approaching Medellín. The flight was then cleared to descend to FL120 (about 12,000 feet (3,700 m)), after which communication was lost. After multiple failed attempts to contact the flight, Medellín ATC declared an emergency.

Because the radio beacon was unserviceable, the crew made navigational errors. The 727 had actually not yet reached the beacon and descended into mountainous terrain. The flight then struck the 3,749-metre-high (12,300 ft) Mount Paramo Frontino.

References

^ "INFORME FINAL ACCIDENTE – COL-93-01-GIA Colisión con el terreno en IMC Boeing 727-100 Matrícula HK-2422X 19 de mayo de 1993 Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia" [FINAL ACCIDENT REPORT - COL-93-01-GIA Collision with terrain at IMC Boeing 727-100 Registration HK-2422X May 19, 1993, Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia] (PDF) (Revised final report) (in Spanish). Air Accident Investigation Group of Colombia. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via us.archive.org.
^ "Aircraft accident Boeing 727-46 HK-2422X Medellín". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
^ "132 on Missing Colombian Plane". The New York Times. 1993-05-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
"UNA BÚSQUEDA ANGUSTIOSA" [AN ANGUISHED SEARCH]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 1993-05-20. Retrieved 2023-06-03.

External links

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1993 (1993)
Jan 6 Lufthansa Cityline Flight 5634Feb 8 Tehran mid-air collisionFeb 11 Lufthansa Flight 592Mar 5 Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301Mar 31 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46EApr 1 Alan Kulwicki Swearingen crashApr 6 China Eastern Airlines Flight 583Apr 14 American Airlines Flight 102Apr 18 Japan Air System Flight 451Apr 24 Indian Airlines Flight 427Apr 26 Indian Airlines Flight 491Apr 27 Zambia national football team plane crashMay 19 SAM Colombia Flight 501Jul 1 Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 724Jul 23 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119Jul 26 Asiana Airlines Flight 733Jul 31 Everest Air Dornier 228 crashAug 12 Llyn Padarn helicopter crashAug 18 American International Airways Flight 808Aug 26 Sakha Avia Flight 301Aug 28 Khorog Tajikistan Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40 crashSep 14 Lufthansa Flight 2904Sep 21 Sukhumi airliners attacksOct 26 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398Oct 27 Widerøe Flight 744Nov 4 China Airlines Flight 605Nov 13 China Northern Airlines Flight 6901Nov 20 Avioimpex Flight 110Nov 26 Auckland mid-air collisionDec 1 Northwest Airlink Flight 5719Dec 26 Kuban Airlines Flight 5719
1992 ◄ ► 1994

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1993 (1993)

Jan 6 Lufthansa Cityline Flight 5634Feb 8 Tehran mid-air collisionFeb 11 Lufthansa Flight 592Mar 5 Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301Mar 31 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46EApr 1 Alan Kulwicki Swearingen crashApr 6 China Eastern Airlines Flight 583Apr 14 American Airlines Flight 102Apr 18 Japan Air System Flight 451Apr 24 Indian Airlines Flight 427Apr 26 Indian Airlines Flight 491Apr 27 Zambia national football team plane crashMay 19 SAM Colombia Flight 501Jul 1 Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 724Jul 23 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119Jul 26 Asiana Airlines Flight 733Jul 31 Everest Air Dornier 228 crashAug 12 Llyn Padarn helicopter crashAug 18 American International Airways Flight 808Aug 26 Sakha Avia Flight 301Aug 28 Khorog Tajikistan Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40 crashSep 14 Lufthansa Flight 2904Sep 21 Sukhumi airliners attacksOct 26 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398Oct 27 Widerøe Flight 744Nov 4 China Airlines Flight 605Nov 13 China Northern Airlines Flight 6901Nov 20 Avioimpex Flight 110Nov 26 Auckland mid-air collisionDec 1 Northwest Airlink Flight 5719Dec 26 Kuban Airlines Flight 5719

1992 ◄ ► 1994

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Colombia
1930s	Medellin plane crash (June 1935) Santa Ana air show disaster (July 1938)
1940s	Avianca Douglas DC-4 crash (February 1947)
1960s	Avianca Flight 4 (January 1966)
1970s	Aerocondor Lockheed L-188 Electra crash (August 1973) Taxi Aereo el Venado Douglas DC-4 accident (January 1976)
1980s	Aeropesca Colombia Flight 221 (August 1981) Aeropesca Colombia Flight 217 (March 1982) TAMPA Colombia Boeing 707 crash (December 1983) Avianca Flight 410 (March 1988) Avianca Flight 203 (November 1989)
1990s	SAM Colombia Flight 501 (May 1993) Intercontinental de Aviación Flight 256 (January 1995) American Airlines Flight 965 (December 1995) Air France Flight 422 (April 1998)
2000s	TAME Flight 120 (January 2002) West Caribbean Airways Flight 9955 (March 2005) Centurion Air Cargo Flight 164 (July 2008)
2010s	AIRES Flight 8250 (August 2010) LaMia Flight 2933 (November 2016) Aerosucre Flight 157 (December 2016)
2020s	Caquetá Cessna Stationair crash (May 2023)

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