AIRES Flight 8250

AIRES Flight 8250

HK-4682, the aircraft involved in the incident, pictured at Bogota's El Dorado International Airport five months before the crash
Accident summary
Date	16 August 2010
Summary	Pilot error
Site	Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport 12°35′01″N 81°42′39″W / 12.58361°N 81.71083°W / 12.58361; -81.71083Coordinates: 12°35′01″N 81°42′39″W / 12.58361°N 81.71083°W / 12.58361; -81.71083
Passengers	125
Crew	6
Fatalities	2
Injuries (non-fatal)	119
Survivors	129
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-73V
Operator	AIRES
Registration	HK-4682
Flight origin	El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá
Destination	Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport, San Andrés

AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight which crashed on 16 August 2010 on the Colombian island of San Andrés, in the Caribbean, with two fatalities. The aircraft, an AIRES-operated Boeing 737-73V, was en route from the Colombian capital Bogota when it crashed while attempting to land in bad weather, breaking up into three sections on impact with the runway. It was the second fatal accident involving a 737-700, and the first 737-700 accident leading to the aircraft being written off.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-73V, registration HK-4682, with serial number (MSN) 32416, construction number 1270. The aircraft had its maiden flight on 10 January 2003, before it was delivered to another airline. It was subsequently delivered to AIRES on 6 March 2010. Investigators said the day after the crash that the aircraft's maintenance log was up to date. The accident was the first that resulted in a Boeing 737-700 being written off.

The flight was operated by the local, privately owned Colombian airline, AIRES. The aircraft was on a flight from the Colombian capital of Bogota, to the Colombian island of San Andrés, in the Caribbean. A popular tourist destination, San Andres Island is about 190 kilometres (100 nmi) east of the Nicaraguan coast.

The flight took off from Bogota shortly after midnight. Operating as Flight 8250, it departed from El Dorado International Airport at 00:07 en route to Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport. The flight crew consisted of Captain Wilson Gutiérrez and First Officer Camilo Piñeros Rodríguez.

The crash occurred as the aircraft landed on San Andrés, at 1:49 am local Western Caribbean Time (UTC−05:00). The Boeing 737 broke up into three main sections. The impact occurred about 260 feet (80 m) before the start of the runway, with wreckage spread about another 328 feet (100 m). The aircraft skidded along the runway, fracturing the landing gear and ripping one engine from the wings. The aircraft's nose and first eight rows of seating came to rest on the runway pointing in a different direction to the rest of the wreckage. According to Colonel David Barrero of the Colombian Air Force, "the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport". The engines shut down on impact, and the fuselage did not catch fire. Airport fire crews quickly doused a small fire that had started on a wing. As a result of the accident, the Comité Regional de Prevención y Atención de Desastres was mobilized.