Aeronor Flight 304 was a Chilean domestic flight between the cities of Santiago and Antofagasta with two intermediate stops. On December 9, 1982, the Fairchild F-27 operating the flight crashed near La Florida Airport, in the Chilean city of La Serena. All 46 passengers and crew on board died.[1]

Aeronor Flight 304
A Fairchild F-27 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
DateDecember 9, 1982
SummaryEngine failure
SiteNear La Florida Airport, La Serena
29°54′17″S 71°12′55″W / 29.90472°S 71.21528°W / -29.90472; -71.21528
Aircraft
Aircraft typeFairchild F-27
OperatorAeronor Chile
RegistrationCC-CJE
Flight originLos Cerrillos Airport, Santiago, Chile
DestinationCerro Moreno International Airport, Antofagasta
Passengers42
Crew4
Fatalities46
Injuries0
Survivors0

Accident

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The Fairchild F-27 of Aeronor Chile was flying from Santiago to Antofagasta, with stops in La Serena and Copiapó.

The aircraft took off from Santiago at 09:40 (UTC−4), reaching the city of La Serena at 10:25. A few minutes before it was scheduled to land at La Florida Airport, the aircraft suffered a malfunction in one of its engines. After this, at 10:29, it crashed into a stone wall located in an area called "Parcela Seis" (Lot Six) at Alfalfares, located approximately 800 meters northeast of the airport terminal. After the aircraft crashed, it caught fire and was almost completely burnt. It is estimated that the aircraft crashed at a speed of 180 km/h. All forty-two passengers and four crew members were killed by the crash or subsequent fire.

Initially, the accident was mistaken for an emergency drill at the airport in La Serena which had commenced a few hours before the tragedy. A television crew from Canal 8 UCV TV, who were shooting scenes of the drill, managed to capture the Aeronor aircraft on fire shortly after the crash.[2]

Notable victims

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References

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  1. ^ "46 muertos al estrellarse un avión en Chile" [46 dead when a plane crashes in Chile] (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: El País. EFE. 10 December 1992. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20.
  2. ^ Tapia, Armando (2008). "Canal 8: Desclasificando los archivos de la primera señal regional" [Channel 8: The files of the first regional signal are declassified]. El Día (in Spanish). Archived from the original on August 9, 2011.
  3. ^ FJ_Meneses (2013-08-05). "La tragedia del Aeronor en La Serena" [The Aeronor tragedy in La Serena]. El Archivo-N (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-17.
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