LANSA Flight 508

LANSA Flight 508
A LANSA Lockheed L-188 Electra similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date24 December 1971 (1971-12-24)
SummaryCrashed following a midair break-up in a thunderstorm
Site
  • Puerto Inca, Peru
Aircraft
Aircraft typeLockheed L-188A Electra
OperatorLíneas Aéreas Nacionales S.A. (LANSA)
RegistrationOB-R-941
Flight originJorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Peru
StopoverCaptain Rolden International Airport, Pucallpa, Peru
DestinationCoronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport, Iquitos, Peru
Occupants92
Passengers86
Crew6
Fatalities91
Injuries1
Survivors1

LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA) that crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru on 24 December 1971, killing 91 people – all 6 crew on board and 85 of its 86 passengers.[1][2] As a result of a lightning bolt strike to the right-hand wing,[3] the aircraft crashed down into the Amazon rainforest. Whilst several of the passengers initially survived the 3 km (2 mi) fall to earth, only one person, German Juliane Koepcke, was able to leave the crash site and hike for 11 days to safety.[3][4] It is regarded in popular retellings as the deadliest lightning strike disaster in aviation history.[3][4]

Accident

Approximate flight path of OB-R-941

LANSA Flight 508 departed Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport shortly before noon on 24 December 1971 on its way to Iquitos in north-eastern Peru, with a scheduled stop at Pucallpa. Whilst cruising at FL210 (6.4 km or 4 mi) above mean sea level, the Lockheed L-188A Electra entered an area of severe thunderstorms and turbulence.[1] Consequently, the aircraft was struck by lightning on its right wing.[3] A fire broke out, and the aircraft suffered structural failure, with the right wing and part of the left wing separating in flight.[1] Later analysis of the flight recorder indicated that the break-up occurred around 12:45, about fifteen minutes before the aircraft was due to land at Pucallpa.[3] The aeroplane then crashed in flames into a jungle located in a mountainous terrain in the region of Puerto Inca.[1]

Victims and sole survivor

The sole survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, whom whilst still strapped to her seat fell 3 km (2 mi) into the Amazon rainforest.[1][3][5] She survived the fall with a broken collarbone, cruciate ligament tear in her left knee, deep laceration to her right arm, eye injury, and concussion.[3] One hour after the fall, she gained her consciousness and was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 11 days.[3] By following a stream, she eventually found shelter in a hut of local hunters and woodcutters, who found her and took her by canoe back to civilisation.[3][6][7][8]

As many as 14 other passengers were also later found to have survived the crash, but died awaiting rescue, including Koepcke's mother.[9]

Aftermath

Some evidence showed the crew decided to continue the flight despite the hazardous weather ahead, apparently because of pressure to meet the holiday schedule.[10][9] Peruvian investigators concluded that the structural failure was caused by the extreme loads imposed while flying through the thunderstorm, compounded by stresses from a manoeuvre to level the aircraft;[11] citing "intentional flight into hazardous weather conditions" as a cause of the crash.[10] The Electra was LANSA's last aircraft; the company lost its operating permit eleven days later.[12]

The sole survivor, Juliane Koepcke, later became the director of the Panguana Foundation, which works closely with local Indigenous communities to advocate for the conservation and protection of the Panguana region’s biodiversity.[3]

The movie Miracles Still Happen (1974) is based on the story.[13] Koepcke's story was also told in the documentary film Wings of Hope (1998) by director Werner Herzog, who had narrowly avoided taking the same flight, when his reservation had been cancelled due to a last minute change in itinerary.[3][14][15]

Koepcke's memoir Als ich vom Himmel fiel (English: When I Fell From the Sky)[6] was published by the German publisher Piper Malik on 10 March 2011.[16]

The crash also features in the final season one episode of the Discovery Channel documentary Aircrash Confidential. The episode was first aired in 2011, and features an interview with Koepcke.[17]

See also

  • List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
  • List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents
  • Braniff International Airways Flight 352, a similar wing-overload crash in the same type of aircraft caused when the crew attempted to fly through a severe thunderstorm. This incident might provide an alternative explanation of the cause for wing separation independent of a lightning strike, as severe turbulence caused by the storm and the crew's efforts to correct for it proved sufficient to overload the wing without prior structural damage due to fire.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "LANSA Peru - Lineas Aéreas Nacionales del Peru". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  2. ^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oltermann, Philip (6 August 2024). "A bolt of lightning struck my plane – and I plunged 3,000m into a rainforest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 21 April 2026. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Highest death toll caused by a lightning (in-flight)". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  5. ^ Franz Lidz (22 June 2021). "Life After the Fall". The New York Times. p. D1.
  6. ^ a b Koepcke, Juliane (2011). When I Fell From the Sky (1st English ed.). Green Bay, WI, US: TitleTown Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-9837547-0-1.
  7. ^ "Plane Crash Accident Record". planecrashinfo.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ^ Pleitgen, Frederik (2 July 2009). "Survivor still haunted by 1971 air crash". CNN. CNN.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Super70's Article". Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  10. ^ a b "Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 12241971®=OB-R-941". airdisaster.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007.
  11. ^ flightsafety.org
  12. ^ World Airlines Flight International, p. S31, 18 May 1972
  13. ^ "Miracles Still Happen (IMDb Record)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  14. ^ Herzog, Werner (2001). Herzog on Herzog. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-20708-1.
  15. ^ "Wings of Hope (IMDb Record)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  16. ^ Koepcke, Juliane (10 March 2011). Als ich vom Himmel fiel (in German). München Berlin Zürich: Piper Malik. ISBN 978-3-492-27493-7.
  17. ^ Barrett, Mathew; Griffiths, Alan; McNab, David; et al. (2011). Prince, Stephen; Gilbert, Roy (eds.). Aircrash Confidential (TV Documentary) (Extreme Weather ed.). Discovery Channel: MMXI World Media Rights Limited; WMR Productions; IMG Entertainment.

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