SAETA Flight 011 (1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Pastaza Province, Ecuador
 A Vickers Viscount, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident. This aircraft later crashed as SAETA Flight 011 (1976) | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 23 April 1979 |
| Summary | Cause unknown; possible controlled flight into terrain |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Vickers 785D Viscount |
| Operator | SAETA |
| IATA flight No. | EH11 |
| ICAO flight No. | SET11 |
| Call sign | SAETA 011 |
| Registration | HC-AVP |
| Flight origin | Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport, Ecuador |
| Destination | Cuenca Airport, Ecuador |
| Occupants | 57 |
| Passengers | 52 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 57 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 23 April 1979, SAETA Flight 011, a Vickers Viscount passenger aircraft of Ecuadorian airline SAETA, crashed in a mountainous region of Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage of the aircraft was not found until five years later.[1]
Flight 011 departed at 7.08 am on 23 April from Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport, Ecuador, on a domestic flight to Cuenca Airport. The plane was cruising in cloud at an altitude of 18,000 ft (5,486 m) and was expected to arrive in Cuenca at 8 am. However, the plane disappeared from radar screens and never arrived at its destination. Search and rescue operations were quickly started, but eventually abandoned after several days without finding any trace of the plane or its occupants.[2]