Cessna 208 accident near Punta Islita, CR
On December 31, 2017, a Cessna 208 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Punta Islita, CR. 12 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 31, 2017
- Place
- Punta Islita, CR
- Aircraft
- Cessna 208 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 12 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 9.865°N, 85.366°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180101X94108
Official records · CEN18FA063
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 31, 2017, about 1156 central standard time, a Cessna 208B airplane, Costa Rican registration TI-BEI, crashed while maneuvering after takeoff from runway 3 at Islita Airport (MRIA), near Corozalito, Costa Rica. The 2 flight crewmembers and 10 passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and post-impact explosion and fire. The airplane was registered to and operated by Nature Air, San José, Costa Rica, as a commercial charter flight operating under Costa Rican flight regulations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was originating at the time of the accident with an intended destination of Juan Santamaría International Airport (MROC), San Jose, Costa Rica. The accident airplane was the second of a flight of two Cessna 208B airplanes transporting hotel guests from MRIA to MROC, where most of the passengers had connecting international airline flights. The first airplane departed MRIA using runway 3 and, after liftoff, made a right turn to the east through a pass in the hills and continued to MROC. The accident airplane took off about 15 minutes after the first airplane. According to the hotel employee who transported the passengers to the airport and was at the airport during the departures, the accident airplane did not make the same right turn as the previous airplane but instead continued on the runway heading. A ground-based video surveillance system installed at the airport captured a portion of the accident airplane's takeoff and the accident sequence. The airplane appeared within f
Probable cause
The flight crew's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to exit an area of rising terrain, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's decision to continue the takeoff toward rising terrain that likely exceeded the airplane's climb capability, the lack of adequate weather reporting
From Wikipedia
Nature Air Flight 144 crashed into terrain on 31 December 2017 shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita Airport in Nandayure, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, for a chartered domestic passenger flight to Costa Rica's capital San José killing all 12 people on board. The flight, with a planned duration of 40 minutes, was operated by Costa Rican regional airline Nature Air and the aircraft involved was a Cessna 208B Caravan manufactured in 2001. On board the aircraft were 10 passengers, mostly American tourists, and 2 pilots. An NTSB investigation later determined that the accident was caused by the aircraft entering an aerodynamic spin/stall that was the result of pilot error. Nature Air permanently ceased operations following the accident.
Text from Wikipedia, “Nature Air Flight 144”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
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Browse: Costa Rica · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
