Incident Overview

Date: Friday 24 December 1971
Aircraft Type: Lockheed L-188A Electra
Owner/operator: Lineas A‚reas Nacionales S.A. – LANSA
Registration Number: OB-R-941
Location: Puerto Inca – ÿ Peru
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 91 / Occupants: 92
Component Affected: Aircraft structure, specifically the wing and fuselage, due to loads imposed by the storm and the aircraft’s maneuver to level out.Aircraft structure, specifically the wing and fuselage, due to loads imposed by the storm and the aircraft’s maneuver to level out.
Category: Accident
A LANSA flight 508, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed near Puerto Inca, Peru, resulting in the loss of control and subsequent fire, leading to a catastrophic crash into mountainous terrain. The aircraft experienced severe turbulence and lightning strikes, causing structural damage and separation of the right and left wings. The incident was attributed to a combination of factors including the extreme weather conditions and the aircraft’s structural response to the storm.A LANSA flight 508, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed near Puerto Inca, Peru, resulting in the loss of control and subsequent fire, leading to a catastrophic crash into mountainous terrain. The aircraft experienced severe turbulence and lightning strikes, causing structural damage and separation of the right and left wings. The incident was attributed to a combination of factors including the extreme weather conditions and the aircraft’s structural response to the storm.

Description

LANSA flight 508, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed following a loss of control near Puerto Inca, Peru, killing 91 occupants; one passenger survived the accident. About forty minutes after takeoff, the aircraft entered a zone of strong turbulence and lightning. After flying for twenty minutes in this weather at FL210 lightning struck the aircraft, causing fire on the right wing which separated, along with part of the left wing. The aircraft crashed in flames into mountainous terrain. Structural failure occurred because of the loads imposed on the aircraft flying through a severe thunderstorm, but also because of stresses resulting from the maneuver to level out the aircraft. A 17-year-old German Peruvian, Juliane Koepcke, survived the accident. Despite sustaining a broken collar bone, a deep gash to her right arm, a concussion and an eye injury in the fall, she was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 10 days, until she was rescued by local lumbermen.

Primary Cause

Severe thunderstorm conditions and extreme turbulence caused by lightning strikes, leading to structural failure and wing separation.Severe thunderstorm conditions and extreme turbulence caused by lightning strikes, leading to structural failure and wing separation.

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