ALM Flight 980
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2 May 1970 |
| Summary | Fuel exhaustion due to pilot error |
| Site | Caribbean Sea |
| Passengers | 57 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 23 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 37 |
| Survivors | 40 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-33CF |
| Operator | Overseas National Airways on behalf of ALM Antillean Airlines |
| Registration | N935F |
| Flight origin | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York |
| Destination | Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten |
ALM Antillean Airlines Flight 980 was a flight scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, on 2 May 1970. After several unsuccessful landing attempts, the aircraft's fuel was exhausted and it made a forced water landing (ditching) in the Caribbean Sea 48 km (30 mi) off St. Croix, with 23 fatalities and 40 survivors. The accident is one of a small number of intentional water ditchings of jet airliners.
The aircraft was a twin-engine Douglas DC-9-33CF operated on behalf of ALM Antillean Airlines by Overseas National Airways (ONA), with an ONA aircraft and flight crew, and an ALM cabin crew. It was registered in the United States with FAA tail number N935F. The flight carried 57 passengers and six crew. The flight crew consisted of Captain Balsey DeWitt (37), First Officer Harry Evans II (25), and Navigator Hugh Hart (35). The cabin crew consisted of Purser Wilfred Spencer, and flight attendants Tobias "Tito" Cordeiro and Margareth Abraham.
Flight 980 made a normal departure from Kennedy Airport and had an uneventful flight to the Caribbean. After the flight was given descent clearance to 10,000 feet (3,000 m), regional air traffic control (ATC) advised that weather in St. Maarten was below landing minimum. The captain elected to divert to San Juan, but shortly after that, the tower at St. Maarten advised them that the weather had improved sufficiently for landing. The flight made an initial approach to St. Maarten, but failed to see the runway in time to line up for landing, and announced a missed approach.
...
Wikipedia