Avianca Flight 52 - Flight History

Flight History

On January 25, 1990, Avianca Flight 52 was much delayed in approaching its destination due to congestion and bad weather. It had been in a holding pattern off the coast near New York for over one hour due to fog and wind interfering with smooth arrivals and departures into John F. Kennedy International Airport. During this hold the aircraft was exhausting its reserve fuel supply, which would have allowed it to divert to its alternate, Boston, in case of an emergency or other critical situation.

When first put on hold, the crew of Flight 52 thought that they would be landing soon, after a few aircraft also on hold in front of them had landed. The bad weather, wind shear and other factors caused the pilots of these aircraft to abort their landings, and the hold time increased.

73 minutes after entering the hold, New York air traffic control (ATC) asked the crew how long they could continue to hold, to which the first officer replied, "bout five minutes." The first officer then stated that their alternate was Boston, but since they had been holding for so long they would not be able to make it there anymore. Even though Flight 52 had fuel issues, ATC passed the flight to another person, presumably unaware there was any urgency to landing this airplane. The delay of the handover may have increased the pilots' stress and fear response, which may have led to less than optimal piloting. The new controller then cleared the aircraft for an approach to runway 22L and informed the flight of wind shear at 1,500 feet (460 m).

As Flight 52 flew the ILS approach, they encountered wind shear at an altitude of less than 500 feet (150 m). As a result, the plane descended below the planned glideslope and almost crashed into the ground short of the runway. The pilots were forced to abandon the landing, even though they knew the plane did not have enough fuel to turn around for another attempt. The crew alerted the controller that they were low on fuel, and in a subsequent transmission stated, "We're running out of fuel, sir." The controller then asked the crew to climb, to which the first officer replied, "No, sir, we're running out of fuel."

Moments later, with the airplane still very close to the ground, the number four engine flamed out, shortly followed by the other three. With the aircraft's main source of electrical power—generators driven off its engines—now gone, automatic load shedding would have caused many nonessential electrical systems to lose power. The cabin thus would have been plunged into darkness. With no engine thrust, the plane lost height. It plunged into the small village of Cove Neck on northern Long Island in Oyster Bay, 15 miles (24 km) from the airport.

The aircraft struck the ground and slid down a hill in the town, splitting into two pieces as it reached the bottom. The impact snapped off the cockpit, which landed over 100 feet (30 m) away in the side of an unoccupied house. 85 people survived the crash with injuries, while 73 passengers and crew died.