Dominicana DC-9 air disaster
A DC-9-32 similar to the accident aircraft
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 15, 1970 |
| Summary | Engine failure followed by loss of control |
| Site |
Caribbean Sea near Las Américas Int'l Airport Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Passengers | 97 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 102 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 |
| Operator | Dominicana de Aviación |
| Registration | HI-177 |
| Flight origin | Santo Domingo-Las Américas International Airport (SDQ/MDSD) |
| Destination | San Juan-Isla Verde International Airport (SJU/TJSJ) |
Dominicana Flight 603, also known as the Dominicana de Aviación Santo Domingo DC-9 air disaster, was an international flight that had a fatal accident, which occurred on February 15, 1970 when a Dominicana de Aviación (Dominican Airlines) McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 twin-engine jet airliner crashed shortly after taking off from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crash killed all 102 passengers and crew on board. Four airline employees are believed to have been arrested in connection with the crash.
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered HI-177, had been built by McDonnell Douglas the previous year. It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month when it crashed.
The jetliner was on an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It took off at about 6:30pm. Two minutes after departure one of its engines lost power. The aircraft then descended until it hit the sea. There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board.
Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:
Regarding rumors stating that the Puerto Rican salsa orchestra El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico was set to board the flight but did not when one of its members had a bad feeling about the flight and convinced the others not to take it, bandleader Rafael Ithier said that was not true. The band was at Venezuela that day and arrived at Santo Domingo the day after the accident.
Dominicana suspended its operations immediately after the crash; reportedly four of its mechanics were arrested as well. In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from Spanish airline Iberia.
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Wikipedia