TACA Flight 110
A TACA Airlines Boeing 737-300 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident.
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 24, 1988 |
| Summary | Dual engine flameout |
| Site |
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. 30°00′43″N 89°55′11″W / 30.0119°N 89.9196°WCoordinates: 30°00′43″N 89°55′11″W / 30.0119°N 89.9196°W |
| Passengers | 38 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 1 (minor) |
| Survivors | 45 (all) |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-3T0 |
| Operator | TACA |
| Registration | N75356 |
| Flight origin |
Goldson International Airport Belize City, Belize |
| Destination |
Moisant Field New Orleans, Louisiana |
TACA Flight 110 was an international scheduled airline flight operated by TACA Airlines, traveling from Belize to New Orleans. On May 24, 1988, the Boeing 737-300 lost power in both engines but its pilots made a successful deadstick landing on a grass levee, with no one aboard sustaining more than minor injuries. The captain of the flight, Carlos Dardano of El Salvador, had lost one eye to crossfire on a small flight to El Salvador, which was undergoing a civil war at the time.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-3T0 (tail number N75356, serial number 23838), had first flown on January 26, 1988, and had been in service with TACA for about two weeks. On this day, the flight proceeded normally, taking off from Belize City's Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport and flying over the Gulf of Mexico toward the Louisiana coast.
The airliner was the 1,505th Boeing 737 manufactured, and was originally acquired by TACA from Polaris Aircraft Leasing in May 1988.
The captain of the flight was Carlos Dardano. At just 29 years of age, Dardano had already amassed 13,410 flight hours. Almost 11,000 of these hours were as pilot in command. The first officer, Dionisio Lopez, was also very experienced, with more than 12,000 flight hours under his belt. Captain Arturo Soley, an instructor pilot, was also in the cockpit, monitoring the performance of the new 737.
Investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that during descent from FL 350 (about 35,000 feet or 11,000 metres) in preparation for their impending arrival at New Orleans' Moisant Field, Captain Dardano and First Officer Lopez noticed areas of light to moderate precipitation in their path, depicted as green and yellow areas on their weather radar, as well as "some isolated red cells" indicative of heavy precipitation to both sides of their intended flight path.
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Wikipedia