COPA Flight 201
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | June 6, 1992 |
| Type | Instrument Failure |
| Site | Darién, Panama |
| Fatalities | 47 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing B-737-204 |
| Operator | Copa Airlines |
| Tail number | HP-1205 |
| Passengers | 40 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The crash of Copa Airlines Flight 201 was the worst airline disaster in Panama in 50 years, and the worst disaster in the history of Copa Airlines, Panama's flag carrier.
Contents |
[edit] Story
On the night of June 6, 1992, the aircraft, a Boeing 737-204 registered as HP-1205, took off from Tocumen International Airport in Panama City for a flight to Cali, Colombia with 40 passengers and 7 crew. Among its passengers were Colombian merchants conducting business in Panama. Because of severe tropical storms, the pilot requested permission from Tocumen air traffic control to fly a different route, taking the plane over Darién Province. A few minutes later, the pilot radioed Tocumen air traffic control again, announcing his intention to return to his original route.
Two minutes after this call, Tocumen air traffic control lost all contact with Flight 201. At dawn the next day, search aircraft were sent to Flight 201's last known position. After 8 hours, searchers spotted the first piece of wreckage of the aircraft. Because of the remote area where the crash occurred, it took rescue personnel 12 hours to reach the site itself. However, there were no survivors for them to rescue.
[edit] Investigation
The cockpit voice recorder was recovered and flown to Panama City, then flown to the United States for analysis by the NTSB. However, NTSB analysts discovered that the tape was broken due to a maintenance error. Crash investigators had better luck with the flight data recorder, which showed the plane was in a high speed dive before it broke up. The trouble was later traced to a faulty attitude indicator, which misled the pilot into thinking he was going left, prompting him to turn right, leading to the dive, with no chance of recovery.
A special team consisting of personnel from COPA, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and NTSB worked together with Panamanian authorities on the investigation, which lasted for one year.
[edit] Media Coverage
A year after the crash, the story of the crash of Flight 201 and its investigation was featured on the PBS program NOVA.
