2008 Mexico City Learjet crash
The 2008 México City Learjet Crash, occurred on November 4, 2008. A Learjet 45 executive plane crashed in a financial zone of the city before landing. It was a flight from San Luis Potosí to Mexico City. Juan Camilo Mouriño, government secretary on duty— and 16 more people died; thirteen at the scene of the accident and three more at the hospital.[1]
 Cordoned-off crash site with burned buildings in background guarded by police officers | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 4 November 2008 |
| Summary | Encounter with wake turbulence due to pilot error by fraudulently certified flight crew |
| Site | Las Lomas, Mexico City, Mexico 19°25′35″N 99°12′13″W / 19.42639°N 99.20361°W |
| Total fatalities | 16[2] |
| Total injuries | 40 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Learjet 45 |
| Operator | Secretariat of the Interior |
| Registration | XC-VMC |
| Flight origin | Ponciano Arriaga International Airport, SLP |
| Destination | Mexico City International Airport |
| Occupants | 9 |
| Passengers | 6 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Survivors | 0[3] |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 7 |
| Ground injuries | 40[4] |
Details
change
Before starting the approach procedure to runway 05 right of the Mexico City International Airport, the pilot of the Learjet 45 did not reduce the speed of his aircraft to 180 knots before crossing the VOR Mateo, as instructed by the air traffic controller. He stayed above 250 knots, very high for the air corridor. Although the pilot instructed to reduce his speed, he never complied with it.
The high speed by the Learjet, piloted by Captain Álvaro Sánchez Jiménez, caused it to come dangerously close to a Mexicana Boeing 767-300 heavy passenger plane, coming from Buenos Aires, and enter the wake of turbulence, destabilizing and shooting down the small aircraft.
Dramatization
changeThe accident and subsequent investigation were featured in Season 14 – Episode 8 of documentary series Air Crash Investigation. The episode was titled "Inner City Carnage" in the United Kingdom and Australia and "Accident or Assassination" in the United States and Canada.[5]
References
change- ↑ news.bbc.co.uk, BBC Profile: Juan Camilo Mourino Archived 4 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "16 Dead in Mexico Plane Crash". Mexico City: Latin American Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ↑ "3 dead, 5 injured in Mexico City plane crash". Xinhua News Agency. 5 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
- ↑ "Reporta GDF ocho muertos y 40 heridos de gravedad" (in Spanish). El Universal. 11 April 2008. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
- ↑ "Accident or Assassination". Mayday. Season 14. Episode 8. Cineflix. 2015-02-17. Discovery Channel Canada.
Other websites
change- "Press conference transcript of final report". Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. (in Spanish)
- Final report of crash ("Archive" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-20.) (in Spanish)
- Audio of flight recorder on YouTube on YouTube (in Spanish)