Pan Am Flight 217 - Misplaced Pages

1968 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 217
Occurrence
A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707-321B, sister to the accident aircraft lost
Date	December 12, 1968
Summary	Apparent pilot error, not concluded
Site	Near Caracas, Venezuela
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 707-321B
Aircraft name	Clipper Malay
Operator	Pan American World Airways
IATA flight No.	PA217
ICAO flight No.	PAA217
Call sign	CLIPPER 217
Registration	N494PA
Flight origin	New York John F. Kennedy Airport, United States
Destination	Simón Bolívar International Airport, Venezuela
Occupants	51
Passengers	42
Crew	9
Fatalities	51
Survivors	0

Pan Am Flight 217 was a Boeing 707 that crashed near Caracas, Venezuela while on a flight from New York City, USA on December 12, 1968. Though pilot error was to blame, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the probable cause was undetermined. There were no survivors.

Aircraft and crew

Pan Am Flight 217 was operated by a Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) Boeing 707-321B (registration N494PA, named Clipper Malay). The aircraft was less than a year old — its first flight was on March 7, 1968, and it was delivered to Pan Am on March 28.

There were nine crew members, including eight from the United States and one from Sweden. The captain was 50 years old and had 24,000 flight hours' experience, including 6,737 hours on the Boeing 707.

Accident description

The aircraft took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on a scheduled flight to Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport on December 12, 1968. As the aircraft was nearing Caracas, it disappeared from air traffic control's radar screens. At 22:05 local time, the aircraft crashed into the Caribbean Sea and exploded. At this point, a call was made to the Venezuelan Navy to search for the aircraft. Wreckage of the Boeing 707 was found 11.4 miles (9.9 nmi; 18.3 km) from Caracas. All 51 passengers and crew died in the crash.

Various aircraft and boats, both naval and civilian, were employed in the search and recovery operation. Some reports stated that many bodies were eaten by sharks. The crash was the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Venezuela up to that point in time, but was surpassed by Viasa Flight 742 in 1969.

Notable passengers

One of those who perished in the flight 217 crash was Olga Antonetti, who had been Miss Venezuela in 1962. Also killed was Rafael Antonio Curra, a Venezuelan ichthyologist and university professor.

Accident cause

The cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error resulting from an optical illusion, created by the lights of the city of Caracas on an upslope. This may have caused the crew to descend until they crashed into the sea, with the loss of all on board. However, the National Transportation Safety Board stated the probable cause was undetermined.

Book about accident

The book The Lost Lives of the Clipper Malay provides details of the aircraft, the accident, and the long process of recovering the bodies of the nine crew members and 42 passengers. The recovery lasted more than a month. The book also provides a biographical account of each of the fifty-one victims.

References

^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-321B N494PA Caracas". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
"Registration Details For N494PA (Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)) 707-321B". Plane Logger. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
"rzjets.net". rzjets.net. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
^ "Sharks Hinder Search Efforts For 51 Victims Of Jet Crash". St. Petersburg Times. 1968-12-14. pp. 8–A. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
^ "DCA69R0002". National Transportation Safety Board. DCA69R0002. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
"The Pan American Accident". Flight International. 1968-12-26. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
"Aircraft accident description, VIASA McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, registration YV-C-AVD, Maracaibo". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
"Massive Search Continues For Crash Victims". The Morning Record. Associated Press. Retrieved 2019-05-21 – via Google News.
Lee, Lizzie (2020-11-15). The Lost Lives of the Clipper Malay. Independently Published. ISBN 979-8-6845-1700-6.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Venezuela
1950s	Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253 (November 1956)
1960s	Avensa Fairchild F-27 accident (February 1962) Pan Am Flight 217 (December 1968) Viasa Flight 742 (March 1969) Air France Flight 212 (December 1969)
1970s	Avensa Flight 358 (December 1974) Punta Mulatos Linea Aeropostal Venezolana HS-748 crash (March 1978)
1980s	Latin Carga Convair CV-880 crash (November 1980) Avensa Flight 007 (March 1983)
1990s	Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 (March 1991) Cubana de Aviación Flight 310 (December 1999)
2000s	West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 (August 2005) Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 (February 2008)
2010s	Conviasa Flight 2350 (September 2010)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 (1968)
Jan 6 Aeroflot Flight 1668Jan 21 Thule Air Base B-52 crashFeb 7 Indian Air Force An-12 crashFeb 16 Civil Air Transport Flight 10Feb 29 Aeroflot Flight 15Mar 6 Air France Flight 212Mar 9 Sainte-Marie Douglas DC-6 crashMar 24 Aer Lingus Flight 712Mar 27 Yuri Gagarin's MiG-15 crashMar 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 965Apr 5 Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incidentApr 8 BOAC Flight 712Apr 20 South African Airways Flight 228May 3 Braniff Flight 352May 12 Kham Duc C-130 shootdownMay 22 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841May 28 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892Jul 1 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253AJul 3 BKS Air Transport Flight C.6845Jul 23 El Al Flight 426 hijackingAug 14 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417Sep 11 Air France Flight 1611Oct 25 Northeast Airlines Flight 946Nov 22 Japan Air Lines Flight 2Nov 24 Pan Am Flight 281Dec 2 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55Dec 12 Pan Am Flight 217Dec 24 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736Dec 26 El Al Flight 253Dec 26 Pan Am Flight 799Dec 27 North Central Airlines Flight 458Dec 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982Dec 31 MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750
1967 ◄ ► 1969

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 (1968)

Jan 6 Aeroflot Flight 1668Jan 21 Thule Air Base B-52 crashFeb 7 Indian Air Force An-12 crashFeb 16 Civil Air Transport Flight 10Feb 29 Aeroflot Flight 15Mar 6 Air France Flight 212Mar 9 Sainte-Marie Douglas DC-6 crashMar 24 Aer Lingus Flight 712Mar 27 Yuri Gagarin's MiG-15 crashMar 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 965Apr 5 Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incidentApr 8 BOAC Flight 712Apr 20 South African Airways Flight 228May 3 Braniff Flight 352May 12 Kham Duc C-130 shootdownMay 22 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841May 28 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892Jul 1 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253AJul 3 BKS Air Transport Flight C.6845Jul 23 El Al Flight 426 hijackingAug 14 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417Sep 11 Air France Flight 1611Oct 25 Northeast Airlines Flight 946Nov 22 Japan Air Lines Flight 2Nov 24 Pan Am Flight 281Dec 2 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55Dec 12 Pan Am Flight 217Dec 24 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736Dec 26 El Al Flight 253Dec 26 Pan Am Flight 799Dec 27 North Central Airlines Flight 458Dec 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982Dec 31 MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750

1967 ◄ ► 1969

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