American Eagle Flight 5452

Executive Air Charter

Industry	Aviation
Headquarters	San Juan , Puerto Rico
Products	Regional air service (including American Eagle Flight 5452)

American Eagle Flight 5452, also known as Executive Air Charter Flight 5452, served as a regional connection between Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan and Eugenio María de Hostos Airport in Mayagüez. This service, operated by Executive Air Charter under the American Eagle banner, utilized a CASA C-212 Aviocar aircraft. On May 8, 1987, while executing the final approach to runway 9 at Mayagüez amid visual meteorological conditions, the aircraft impacted terrain approximately 600 feet short of the runway threshold. The accident resulted in the total loss of the aircraft and the fatalities of both flight crew members. Four passengers survived with only minor injuries.

Accident

Flight 5452 took off from San Juan at 6:20 am, departing five minutes behind schedule with four passengers aboard. Roughly half an hour into the flight, eyewitnesses noted abnormal engine noises before the airplane banked to the left and descended prematurely, crashing short of the runway and colliding with the airport’s perimeter fence. Preliminary assessments suggested that pilot loss of control occurred during the landing phase. A fire ignited following the crash but was swiftly extinguished by airport firefighting personnel.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a CASA C-212~C bearing registration N432CA. It had been acquired from Prinair and entered Executive Air Charter’s fleet in October 1986. The crash and ensuing fire rendered the aircraft beyond repair. Maintenance records indicated recurring engine torque issues, with adjustments to propeller blade angles performed just one day prior to the incident by Executive’s maintenance staff.

Crew

Captain Franklin Rivera Velez, aged 44, possessed an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate and accumulated approximately two decades of flying experience totaling around 10,000 hours. His turbine engine flight time included about 4,500 hours on the deHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter and 473 hours operating the CASA C-212. First Officer Reynold Santiago Cordero, aged 32, also held an ATP certificate with ten years of experience and roughly 4,473 flight hours logged, including 459 hours on the CASA C-212; however, he lacked formal type rated certification for this specific aircraft model.

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) examined parallels between this accident and Northwest Airlink Flight 2268, another CASA C-212 crash earlier that year. Investigators faced limitations due to the absence of flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders—equipment not mandated for commuter aircraft at that time—and no radar tracking information was available because the Mayagüez control tower had been shuttered by the FAA amid budget reductions. The condition of airport infrastructure was excluded as a contributing element.

The NTSB determined that the captain conducted an unstable approach characterized by an excessively steep descent path too close to the runway threshold, which restricted opportunities for corrective action. The investigation revealed that the aircraft’s flaps were left retracted, either through pilot oversight or improper retraction during a go-around maneuver attempt, which likely induced an aerodynamic stall.

Although pilot error played a role in the accident sequence, maintenance shortcomings at Executive Air Charter were identified as the primary cause. Previous flights had reported issues related to engine thrust that were insufficiently addressed. It is probable that one engine inadvertently reverted to idle, generating asymmetric thrust conditions and resulting in a loss of airspeed.

The NTSB concluded that Executive Air Charter failed to adhere to its approved maintenance schedule and inspection protocols. Additionally, maintenance documentation and approvals authorizing return to service were improperly managed, contravening established standards.