Cubana de Aviación Flight 389

Cubana de Aviación

Company type	State-owned enterprise
Industry	Aviation
Founded	February 1961
Headquarters	Havana , Cuba
Products	Passenger air transport
Website	www.cubana.cu

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Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 (CU389/CUB389) was an international passenger service operated by the Cuban national airline Cubana de Aviación. The route connected Quito’s former Mariscal Sucre International Airport to Havana’s José Martí International Airport, including a scheduled stop at Guayaquil’s Simón Bolívar International Airport.

On August 29, 1998, during the domestic segment from Quito to Guayaquil, the Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft overran the runway while attempting to take off at Quito's airport. The plane crashed into nearby structures and a soccer field before igniting into flames. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 70 individuals aboard and claimed the lives of 10 people on the ground, among them children.

This incident stands as the second most fatal aviation accident in Ecuador’s history, surpassed only by the TAME Flight 173 crash in 1983 that caused 119 fatalities.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was a Tupolev Tu-154M with serial number 85A720 and Cuban registration CU-T1264. Constructed at the Kuybyshev Aviation Plant—currently known as Aviakor—in Samara, Russia (formerly Kuybyshev in the Soviet Union), this model first took flight in December of 1985. It was equipped with three Soloviev D-30KU-154 turbofan engines. Delivered to Cubana de Aviación in February 1986, the airframe had logged approximately 9,256 flight hours by the time of the accident.

Passengers and crew

The aircraft was transporting a total of 91 individuals, which included 14 crew members and 77 passengers. The flight was commanded by Mario Ramos, with Leonardo Díaz serving as co-pilot and Carlos González as the flight engineer. The majority of those on board were Ecuadorian nationals, alongside passengers from Argentina, Italy, Jamaica, Chile, and Cuba.

Among the victims was 27-year-old Maita Madriñan Guayasamín, granddaughter of the celebrated Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín. Madriñan was accompanied by her husband Alejandro Sule (also spelled "Zule"), a Chilean citizen, as well as their two children: Alejandra, aged four, and Martín, four months old—both great-grandchildren of Guayasamín. Additionally, these children were grandchildren of Anselmo Sule, a prominent leader of the Radical Party of Chile and former legislator. Maita Madriñan was also the granddaughter of Alfredo Vera, an Ecuadorian politician and ex-government minister, who tragically lost his grandnephew Emilio in the crash. The family of Alegría Crespo, who would later become Minister of Education, was also aboard; her father perished in the accident.

Events

As Flight 389 readied for takeoff, an initial attempt to start one engine was hindered by a blocked pneumatic valve. After resolving this issue, two engines were successfully started using ground power. The third engine was ignited during taxiing. Once takeoff clearance was granted, the aircraft began its takeoff roll. The first two attempts to lift off were unsuccessful. On the third try, upon reaching V_R speed—the rotation speed—the plane’s nose failed to lift. The crew then initiated a rejected takeoff procedure; however, the aircraft overran the runway. It narrowly avoided Tufiño Avenue, a busy road at the runway’s end, before crashing into El Rosario’s middle-class residential area. The plane collided with a wall, struck an auto repair shop, destroyed two houses, and finally came to rest in a soccer field where many people, including children, were present. The aircraft exploded and caught fire upon impact.

Rescue efforts

Emergency responders arrived at the crash location and commenced the evacuation of those who survived. Multiple explosions were audible following the initial impact. Fire crews sprayed water onto the smoldering debris to curb further detonations, while local officials secured the perimeter and conducted searches for residents reported missing in the vicinity. Numerous individuals on the ground were unaccounted for after the incident. A mother reported that her three children had disappeared post-crash. A total of 26 injured individuals were transported to three different medical facilities, with 15 admitted to Quito Metropolitan Hospital. Accounts from survivors revealed that certain aircraft doors failed to open after the collision, prompting some passengers to escape through an opening in the fuselage. Several people leapt from the burning plane to save themselves. On Sunday, 30 August, the Ecuadorian Red Cross announced that up to 77 severely burned bodies had been retrieved from the site. Tragically, five children playing in a nearby field lost their lives when the aircraft struck them.

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Mariscal Sucre International Airport was shut down and all flight activities were suspended. Jamil Mahuad, Ecuador’s newly sworn-in president just 19 days prior, visited the scene and offered condolences to families affected by the tragedy. He mandated a comprehensive investigation into the crash’s causes and pledged to construct a new airport farther from densely inhabited areas, addressing longstanding criticisms about the current airport’s proximity to residential zones.

Previous tragedies and close calls

The hazards associated with the airport’s location were well-founded and not solely highlighted by this Cubana Airlines disaster. On 18 September 1984, AECA Flight 767-103 failed to take off properly and overran runway 17 (the opposite end of runway 35), crashing into several homes near its end—close to where the Cubana crash would later occur fourteen years afterward. This accident resulted in the deaths of all four crew members and nearly fifty people on the ground.

Similarly, on 1 May 1996, an overloaded Boeing 727 operated by Fly Linhas Aéreas carrying Brazil’s Corinthians football team experienced a rejected takeoff in rainy weather conditions at runway 35 (start of runway 17). The aircraft overran the runway, collided with Instrument Landing System equipment, descended down an embankment, struck the airport perimeter wall, and came to rest between Tufiño Avenue and airport property. Although there were no fatalities among the 79 passengers and 11 crew members onboard, six individuals sustained injuries and the aircraft was declared a total loss.

Early Theories

Questions were initially raised about the aircraft's mechanical condition, as Cubana de Aviación was operating under the severe limitations imposed by Cuba’s economic hardships during the Special Period, which followed the fall of the Soviet Union. This widespread socioeconomic downturn, triggered by the conclusion of the Cold War and the cessation of Soviet backing for the Fidel Castro regime, had a significant impact on Cuba’s aviation sector, particularly affecting Cubana.

At that time, Cubana was one of the few airlines in the Western Hemisphere still flying Soviet-made passenger jets, and it faced considerable challenges in maintaining these planes. Obtaining replacement parts required payments in US dollars, which were scarce and difficult to acquire amid the 1990s crisis. This issue was exacerbated by a longstanding US trade embargo and other economic sanctions imposed on Cuba’s Communist government since the 1960s. As a result, Cubana often had to send Soviet-trained technicians onboard flights and resort to cannibalizing components from other Soviet aircraft within its fleet to keep planes operational throughout that decade.

Eventually, Oswaldo Domínguez, head of Ecuador's General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) and an Ecuadorian Air Force general, stated that Cuban maintenance records indicated the aircraft was "fully compliant," with documentation covering all mandatory inspections and upkeep. He dismissed theories involving bombs or terrorist acts but noted evidence suggesting that "the engines were set to reverse."

Fire After Impact

The fire that erupted following the crash proved more fatal than the initial runway overrun and collision itself. Numerous eyewitness accounts described how passengers survived the initial impact but later perished while trying to escape the burning wreckage. Testimonies from survivors revealed that two stewardesses who survived the crash assisted others in evacuating but ultimately succumbed to the flames. A local witness recounted hearing passengers’ desperate cries for help continuing after the crash until "the final explosion came and [then] everything was quiet." The intense blaze, with flames soaring as high as 150 feet, severely hindered early rescue attempts by nearby residents. One local summarized the tragedy by stating that "people didn’t die from injuries; they died from the explosion and fire."

Safety zone

To prevent a recurrence of a similar catastrophe, the DGAC initiated a project in 1999 to establish a runway safety area—also referred to as a "safety zone" or "safety and stop zone"—adjacent to and immediately beyond the threshold of runway 17. This location was notably where Flight 389 veered off following its unsuccessful aborted takeoff. The undertaking involved extensive earthmoving operations, requiring the expropriation of both private and public lands. This effort resulted in the creation of a berm-like, level platform measuring 280 meters in length and 92 meters in width, designed to expand the available overrun space for aircraft in case of rejected takeoffs or failed landings.

This protective zone encompassed, and thus shielded, the areas affected by the Cubana Tu-154's destructive path prior to halting. A significant portion included Tufiño Avenue, which encircles the beginning of runway 17; due to the safety zone's construction atop this road, a dual-lane tunnel was constructed beneath the platform to maintain vehicular flow. Additionally, neighboring streets along with adjacent residential neighborhoods and commercial establishments benefited from enhanced protection against potential accidents thanks to this infrastructure. The safety zone project reached completion and was officially inaugurated by mid-July 2000.

New airport

Although the safety zone was completed during President Mahuad’s administration, his earlier commitment to develop an entirely new airport did not materialize while he remained in office. His term was marked by a profound economic and political downturn that culminated in his removal through a coup d’état in 2000. Construction of the replacement airport commenced only in 2006, with its official opening taking place in February 2013—almost fifteen years after the CU389 disaster. This new facility is situated approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi; 9.7 nmi) east of Quito, well beyond the city’s urban limits.

See also

• 1996 Air Africa crash
• Munich air disaster
• LAPA Flight 3142
• Tower Air Flight 41