From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Avianca Flight 011, registration HK-2910 (formerly LN-RNA), was a Boeing 747-283B on an international scheduled passenger flight from Frankfurt via Paris and Madrid to Bogotá.

Avianca Flight 011 took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) at 22:25 for a flight to Bogotá (BOG) via Madrid (MAD).

The Boeing 747 climbed to a cruising altitude of FL370. At 23:31 the crew contacted Madrid ACC, receiving clearance to continue to the Madrid VOR via Pamplona, Barahona, and Castejón. Fifteen minutes later the flight was cleared to descend to FL190. At 23:52 they were cleared down to FL90: "Avianca 011 está pasando Barahona, proceda ya directo a Charlie Papa Lima, y continúe descenso para el nivel nueve cero, cambio." ("Avianca 011 is passing Barahona, proceed directly to Charlie Papa Lima and continue descent to level nine zero, over.")

After contacting Madrid Approach at 23:56 they were cleared for a runway 33 approach. After reaching FL090 at 00:00 they were cleared further down. Madrid Tower at 00:03 then cleared the flight to land. Instead of turning right at the Madrid VOR, the crew initiated a turn short of the VOR beacon. The aircraft descended below the minimum descent altitude for that area.

The right main gear and no. 4 engine hit a hill at an altitude of 2247 feet and a speed of 142 knots. Three seconds later the aircraft impacted a second hill at a speed of 135 knots and a 4.9 degree nose-up attitude. Six seconds after contacting the 2nd hill, the aircraft (at 126 kts) hit the ground with the right wing, which broke off. The Boeing cartwheeled, broke in five pieces and came to rest upside down. Only 11 of the 169 passengers survived, and there were no survivors among the 23 crew. Among the dead were Peruvian poet Manuel Scorza, Mexican novelist Jorge Ibargüengoitia, and Uruguayan literary critic Ángel Rama.

External links

• Report from the Ministry of Infrastructures, Spain (Spanish).
• Transcript of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR)
• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• Pre-Crash photos of HK-2910 at Airliners.net
• Photo of the crashed airliner from AirDisaster.com

See also

• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

← 1982 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1983 1984→ Turkish Airlines Flight 158 (January 16) - Air Canada Flight 797 (June 2) - British Airways Sikorsky S-61 crash (July 16) - Air Canada Flight 143 (July 21) - Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (September 1) - Gulf Air Flight 771 (September 23) - Avianca Flight 011 (November 27) - Ozark Air Lines Flight 650 (December 20) Bold blue indicates incidents resulting at least 50 deaths (current article is always in bold black) Red indicates the deadliest incident in 1983

Coordinates: 40°24′12″N 3°26′57″W / 40.40333°N 3.44917°W / 40.40333; -3.44917