Prinair Flight 191

Prinair Flight 191
	A Prinair de Havilland DH.114, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	June 24, 1972
Summary	Pilot error
Site	Ponce, Puerto Rico ; 18°0′22″N 66°33′37″W / 18.00611°N 66.56028°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland DH.114 Heron 2B
Operator	Prinair
Registration	N554PR
Flight origin	Luis Muñoz Marín Int'l Airport
Destination	Mercedita Airport
Occupants	20
Passengers	18
Crew	2
Fatalities	5
Injuries	15
Survivors	15

Prinair Flight 191 was a Prinair (Puerto Rico International Airlines) flight from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Mercedita Airport in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At approximately 11:15pm on June 24, 1972, the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport. Five people died in the accident.^[1] and the remaining people were injured.

Aircraft and crew[edit]

The flight was operated by a de Havilland DH.114 Heron 2B aircraft, registration number N554PR. The aircraft was almost fully loaded, with eighteen passengers and a crew of two on board.^[a] The flight was under the command of Captain Donald Price (28), a very experienced airman who had clocked approximately 8,300 total flight hours, more than 3,000 of which were accrued in the aircraft type. The first officer was Gary Belejeu (27). Far less experienced than the captain, Belejeu had logged roughly 1,400 total flight hours, with 102 hours in the DH-114.^[2]

Flight and accident[edit]

The flight was uneventful up to the moment of landing. As the flight was late at night, the control tower at Mercedita Airport was closed, therefore the flight crew was responsible for the landing clearance.^[1] Just after touching down on the runway at Mercedita Airport the flight crew made a decision to go around. The pilot over-rotated the aircraft and caused it to stall at a low level and crash; three passengers and the two flight crew members died, the other fifteen passengers were injured, seven severely. Heavy fog was also a contributing factor in this accident.^[1]

Investigation[edit]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation concluded that the probable cause was the "presence of an unauthorized vehicle on the runway which caused the pilot to attempt a go-around after touchdown to avoid a collision. The maneuver resulted in an overrotation of the aircraft at too low an airspeed to sustain flight".^[1] This was based on eyewitness accounts of a set of lights visible on the runway as Flight 191 approached, and other eyewitness accounts of a vehicle owned by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority being parked shortly after the accident and the driver acting in a suspicious manner.^[1]

Three years after the accident the NTSB was compelled to re-open the investigation into the crash, after submissions were received that the person who was suspected of driving the "unauthorized vehicle" had actually left the airport about fifteen minutes before the aircraft crashed.^[2] The second investigation concluded that there was no airport vehicle on the runway, and that the reason for the go-around of the aircraft was unknown; a new report was issued, explaining the evidence as to the location of the airport vehicle and amending the Probable Cause to remove reference to a vehicle being on the runway.^[2]

Notes[edit]

^ The two NTSB accident reports used as sources describe N554PR as being modified to have 20 passenger seats.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 20 December 1972. NTSB-AAR-72-54. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 13 January 1976. NTSB-AAR-75-17. - Alternate at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

[2] The two NTSB accident reports used as sources describe N554PR as being modified to have 20 passenger seats.

[NTSB1-1] "Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 20 December 1972. NTSB-AAR-72-54. Retrieved 14 August 2008.

[NTSB2-3] "Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 13 January 1976. NTSB-AAR-75-17. - Alternate at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

[1]

[a]

[2]

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Wichita State University football team plane crash Southern Airways Flight 932 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Pan Am Flight 845 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (see D. B. Cooper)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 American Airlines Flight 96 Prinair Flight 191 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident Southern Airways Flight 49 United Air Lines Flight 553 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 Delta Air Lines Flight 723 TWA Flight 742 World Airways Flight 802 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Pan Am Flight 160 National Airlines Flight 27 Iberia Flight 933
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 Pan Am Flight 806 Delta Air Lines Flight 523 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 TWA Flight 514 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 Overseas National Airways Flight 032
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 American Airlines Flight 625 Air Manila Flight 702 TWA Flight 355
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 Southern Airways Flight 242 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Encino helicopter crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Air Indiana Flight 216 United Airlines Flight 2860 Vieques Air Link crash
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 United Airlines Flight 696 National Airlines Flight 193 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Air Caribbean Flight 309 TWA Flight 541 United Airlines Flight 173
1979	TWA Flight 841 American Airlines Flight 191 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Air New England Flight 248 American Airlines Flight 293 American Airlines Flight 444
This list is incomplete. ALM Flight 980 ditched in waters near St. Croix. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands

Aircraft and crew[edit]

Flight and accident[edit]

Investigation[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]