Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 901

Austral Líneas Aéreas

Industry	Airline
Headquarters	Buenos Aires , Argentina

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 901 was a routine passenger service operating between Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport and Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires. On May 7, 1981, the aircraft crashed into a river near Buenos Aires after encountering a severe thunderstorm. Tragically, all 31 individuals aboard the BAC One-Eleven lost their lives.

Accident sequence

Flight 901 took off from Teniente Benjamín Matienzo International Airport in Tucumán at 9:11 a.m. on May 7, 1981, with its destination set for Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires. The journey proceeded without incident until the aircraft reached its final approach phase.

Conditions at Buenos Aires were extremely poor, characterized by intense rainfall and strong winds. At 10:42 a.m., Air Traffic Control cleared Flight 901 for landing on runway 13 at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. Approaching just before 11 a.m., the pilots attempted to land; however, due to limited visibility caused by the inclement weather, they aborted the landing attempt. The crew initiated a go-around procedure and prepared for a second approach.

Following guidance from air traffic controllers, the flight diverted southward to hold over the city of Quilmes, anticipating that weather conditions would be less severe there and expecting the storm to dissipate quickly. Upon nearing Quilmes, the crew observed significant cumulonimbus cloud formations and informed Aeroparque’s control tower of their intention to turn back toward the river to attempt an alternative approach. After receiving clearance to ascend to an altitude of 600 metres (2,000 ft), the aircraft turned northward directly into the storm’s core. From this moment onward, communication between Flight 901 and Aeroparque control was lost.

Shortly thereafter, control of the aircraft was compromised, resulting in a crash into a nearby river. All passengers and crew aboard the BAC One-Eleven perished in the accident.

Following loss of contact with Flight 901, search operations were launched by vessels from both the Argentine Naval Prefecture and the Argentine Navy. At approximately 2:40 p.m., over three hours post-crash, a Prefectura helicopter located debris from the aircraft. Rescue teams rushed to the site in hopes of finding survivors; however, no one survived. The recovery operation, including retrieval of victims’ remains, extended over several days.

Investigation

The inquiry was conducted by the Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board. Slightly over half of the aircraft debris was recovered from the water. Despite an exhaustive 42-day search, neither the flight data recorder (FDR) nor the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were located. In the absence of these crucial black boxes, the JIAAC investigation was unable to definitively establish the accident's cause. Nonetheless, it identified the most likely reason as a "loss of control of the aircraft followed by impact with the water, attributed to a misjudgment by the pilot regarding weather conditions while navigating through an area influenced by a cumulonimbus cloud exhibiting extremely intense activity."

See also

• Communication Protocol between Tower and Flight 901