Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Final Report has been released as seen in the External Links section. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046

An Austral Líneas Aéreas McDonnell Douglas MD-81, similar to the one involved in the accident.
Accident
Date	June 12, 1988
Summary	Crashed on approach due to pilot error and poor visibility
Site	Near Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, Posadas, Argentina
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-81
Operator	Austral Líneas Aéreas
IATA flight No.	AU046
Registration	N1003G
Flight origin	Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires
Stopover	Resistencia International Airport
Destination	Posadas Libertador General José de San Martín Airport
Passengers	55[1]
Crew	6
Fatalities	61[1]
Survivors	0

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046 was an Argentine scheduled domestic flight from Buenos Aires to Posadas, via Resistencia, that undershot the runway at Libertador General Jose de San Martin Airport in Posadas on June 12, 1988, in conditions of poor visibility. All 61 of the occupants of flight 046 were killed in the crash.^[2]

Flight 046, operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, departed Buenos Aires' Aeroparque Jorge Newbery to Resistencia at 7:04 local time, and departed from Resistencia to Posadas at 8:40 after a 20-minute stopover. At 9:09, the crew of Flight 046 made radio contact with Posadas air traffic control, and 7 minutes later, the flight was cleared for an approach to Runway 01. The weather at the time was very poor, with extremely dense fog reducing visibility to just 100 meters. Shortly after making contact with controllers at Posados Airport, the aircraft struck the top of a eucalyptus tree, flipped on its side and crashed 3 kilometers (1.9 mi; 1.6 nmi) short of the runway. All on board perished and the aircraft was destroyed on impact. ^[3]

The investigation into the disaster, led by the Junta de Investigación de Accidentes de Aviación Civil (JIAAC) concluded that the main factor in the crash was that the crew attempted to land below the indicated minimum weather conditions for the instrument approach. The crash had severely damaged both the Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorders, as the post crash fire rendered large portions of both recordings unusable. Small sections of the recordings were salvaged and analysed thoroughly by the Argentinian investigators. Analysis of the recovered cockpit voice recording revealed the first officers hesitation to land in extremely dense fog, as well as his dismay when realising the aircraft had descended below the lowest safe altitude permitted for the approach.^[4]

The JIAAC made recommendations to the National Transportation Safety Board and McDonnell Douglas to improve the insulation of both recorders, and to strengthen the wiring that connects the cockpit area microphone to the actual cockpit voice recorder located in the empennage. ^[3][1]

• Final Report (Archive)