TAESA Flight 725

TAESA Flight 725 was a scheduled flight originating in Tijuana International Airport and ending at Mexico International Airport with intermediate stopovers in Uruapan and Guadalajara, that crashed shortly after departure on November 9, 1999, killing all 18 passengers and crew on board.[1] The crash led TAESA to ground its fleet and suspend operations a year later in 2000.[2]

TAESA flight 725
XA-TKN, the aircraft involved in 1998
Accident
Date9 November 1999
SummaryPilot error and Spatial disorientation resulting in a deep stall; loss of control
SiteNear Uruapan International Airport, Uruapan, Michoacán
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
OperatorTAESA Lineas Aéreas
RegistrationXA-TKN
Flight originTijuana International Airport, Tijuana, Baja California
1st stopoverGuadalajara International Airport, Guadalajara, Jalisco
Last stopoverUruapan International Airport, Uruapan, Michoacán
DestinationMexico City International Airport, Mexico City
Occupants18
Passengers13
Crew5
Fatalities18
Survivors0

Investigators determined that the crew didn't use the appropriate checklists prior to departure. During the climbout, the pilots were confused about what instructed heading to take during departure. Spatial disorientation was believed to be one factor in the crash of Flight 725.[3]

Aircraft

The aircraft operating the flight was an McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-31, manufactured by McDonnell-Douglas, and first entered service with Trans Australia Airlines in February 1970. It was 29 years old at the time of the accident and accumulated more than 59,000 takeoff/landing cycles and 58,000 flight hours. Before being delivered to TAESA Lineas Aéreas, it previously operated for Australian Airlines, Sunworld International Airlines, Midway Airlines, NASA and Aeroméxico[3][4]

Passengers and crew

The captain was 36-year-old Jesús José Graciá. He had 5,368 flight hours. The first officer was 22-year-old Héctor Valdez, who had 250 flight hours at the time of the accident.[5]

There were 13 passengers and 5 crew members on board the flight at the time, totaling up to 18 people on the DC-9.[6]

Flight

The aircraft departed Uruapan for Mexico City at 18:59 local time. After rotation the aircraft pitched up abnormally high, entered a stall, nosed over and crashed into an avocado field 3.3 miles south of runway on a heading of 110 degrees. All 18 people on board were killed.[3]

References
  1. "Plane falls from sky in central Mexico, killing 18". DeseretNews.com. 1999-11-10. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  2. Dillon, Sam (1999-11-25). "INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; Mexico Grounds Entire Fleet Of Airline Involved in Crash". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31F XA-TKN Uruapan". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  4. "Registration Details For XA-TKN (TAESA) DC-9-31". www.planelogger.com. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
  5. "Listado de personas a bordo" [List of people on board]. terra.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-03-23.
  6. "18 Killed In Mexico Plane Crash". Retrieved 2018-02-04.


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