LAPA Flight 3142 - Crew

Crew

The captain was Gustavo Weigel (45) and his co-pilot was Luis Etcheverry (31). Both died in the accident. Weigel had 6,500 hours of flying experience, of which 1,710 had been in a Boeing 737, the type of aircraft that was in the accident. The co-pilot had flown 560 of his 4,085 hours in the 737.

With regard to the two pilots, the JIAAC report said that "the records of their flight and simulator training showed repeated negative flying characteristics, and if they had been able to move away from these characteristics in the face of difficulties, their poor attitude manifested itself once again in relaxed attitudes such as that seen in the cockpit of flight 3142".

Even though the aforementioned report stated that "the pilots had fulfilled technical and psychological requirements", and that "their experience, both in general flight, and with this kind of aircraft was suitable for the job they were performing", the lawsuit later determined that Weigel was not fit to fly, since his license had expired.

Even though these personal issues surrounding the pilots had a very significant influence on the accident, the legal investigation performed in the following years centered on proving that the pilots were not entirely to blame, but that the lack of controls by the Air Force and LAPA's organizational culture also played a role in the events leading to the crash.