Safety Panel Blames Pilots in Avianca Crash
Mistakes by the flight crew were the chief reason that a Colombian jetliner ran out of fuel and crashed on Long Island last year, killing 73 people, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday.
The crew of Avianca Flight 52 failed to impress air traffic controllers that its fuel had run critically low on the evening of Jan. 25, 1990, the board concluded.
The co-pilot had radioed controllers that the plane was running out of fuel and needed “priority,” but never used the word “emergency,” federal investigators found. As a result, the Boeing 707 was not immediately cleared for landing at Kennedy International Airport and plowed into a hillside in suburban Cove Neck, N.Y.
After several hours of discussion, the board voted 4 to 1 to accept a staff report on the causes of the crash. Board member James Burnett voted against the full report because he said he felt it did not state strongly enough mistakes made by air traffic controllers.
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