West caribbean airways flight 708

West Caribbean Airways Flight 708

Estefania N.

Synopsis

On August 16, 2005, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was flying to France

The flight crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela

killed all 152 passengers, and eight crew

5 – Model analysis

MAN

The captain of flight 708 was 40-year-old Omar Ospina

The first officer was 21-year-old David Muñoz.

The eight flight crewmembers added a sufficient quantity of fuel to reach their destination.

At 06:51 AM the crew reported at FL330 over the SIDOS waypoint

The ATC instructed the crew to continue on the present heading and to await further clearance direct to ONGAL.

At 06:57 AM the flight crew requested permission to descend to FL310, which was approved.

The autopilot was disconnected and the airplane started to descend.

MACHINE

The aircraft involved in the incident was delivered to Continental Airlines on November 4, 1986 as N72824

On 01/ 10/ 2005, the aircraft was transferred to West Caribbean Airways, and registered as HK-4374X,

The jet's tail cone fell off in early July 2005 and was replaced.

MEDIUM

Heavy rains and the difficult terrain are reported to be hampering the rescue effort

MANAGEMENT

French Transport Minister Dominique said the plane was recently inspected and there was no problem noted

However, a spokesman for WC admitted the plane had dropped its tail con last month during a flight

But it was later repaired

MISSION

Given the aerodynamic and performance conditions, the aircraft was taken to a critical state

Which led to this loss of lift

The CRM and decision-making during the development of the emergency were misguided, caused by:

Awareness of of environment

Lack of effective communication

The evidence shows the classification of “Human Factor” as a cause of this accident

Swiss Cheese Analysis

Active errors: the pilot did not realize the source of the engine problem, therefore, he stated a rapid descent as a precaution

Latent errors:

Windows of opportunity:

Causation chain:

Latent failures

Decision making

Active failures

Limited window of accident opp.

Active failures

Aircraft crash

160 were killed

SHELL Model Analysis

Software:

Hardware:

Environment:

Liveware:

REFERENCES

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/w20050816. htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4156224. stm

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20050816- 0