TANS Perú Flight 204

TANS Perú Flight 204

OB-1809-P, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen at Jorge Chávez Int'l Airport on 3 August 2005.
Accident summary
Date	23 August 2005
Summary	Pilot error
Site	Pucallpa, Peru 8°25′0″S 74°35′45″W / 8.41667°S 74.59583°W / -8.41667; -74.59583Coordinates: 8°25′0″S 74°35′45″W / 8.41667°S 74.59583°W / -8.41667; -74.59583
Passengers	91
Crew	7
Fatalities	40
Survivors	58
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-244 Advanced
Operator	TANS Perú
Registration	OB-1809-P
Flight origin	Jorge Chávez Int'l Airport Lima, Peru
Stopover	Captain Rolden Int'l Airport Pucallpa, Peru
Destination	Crnl. FAP F. S. Vignetta Int'l Airport Iquitos, Peru

TANS Perú Flight 204 refers to a domestic scheduled Lima–Pucallpa–Iquitos passenger service, operated with a Boeing 737-200 Advanced, that crashed on 23 August 2005 on approach to Pucallpa Airport, 4 miles (6.4 km) off the airfield, following an emergency landing attempt because of bad weather, killing 40 of the 98 passengers and crew aboard.

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 1981-built Boeing 737-244 Advanced, registered OB-1809, which had been leased to TANS Perú from the South African lessor company Safair two months prior to the accident occurrence. With manufacturer's serial number 22580 and powered with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A engines, the airframe had its maiden flight on 4 August 1981, and was originally delivered to South African Airways. At the time of the accident the aircraft had accumulated 49,865 flight hours and 45,262 cycles, and was 24 years old.

There was an unusual developing cold front in the vicinities of Pucallpa minutes before the event took place, with cloud tops estimated to be 45,000 feet (14,000 m) high. Instead of heading the aircraft to another airport, the pilots initiated the approach to Pucallpa Airport with torrential rains and strong winds in the background. Some ten minutes before the scheduled time for landing the plane started rocking. Realizing that the airport could not be safely reached amid that worsening weather conditions, the pilots attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft was flying through a hailstorm for the last 32 seconds of its ill-fated flight when it was seemingly taken down by a wind shear, hit tree tops, impacted terrain in a swamp located 3.8 nautical miles (7.0 km; 4.4 mi) ahead of the runway threshold, broke up as it crash landed and burst into flames, leaving a path 100 feet (30 m) wide and 0.8 nautical miles (1.5 km; 0.92 mi) long. The wreckage of the airplane was engulfed by the fire.