Prinair
Encyclopedia
Prinair was a Puerto Rican airline. It was Puerto Rico
's domestic and international flag carrier
airline for almost two decades.
in Ponce
to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
(then known as Isla Verde International Airport) in San Juan
. The company's name was changed to Prinair the following year (Puerto Rico INternational AIR lines).
The airline later used de Havilland Heron
piston-engined aircraft for its services. The livery reminded the public of Braniff International Airways
because of the many different colors used. During the 1970s, expansion saw the airline start services to Opa-locka
(a Florida
location close to Miami
), Santo Domingo
, the Virgin Islands
, Martinique
, Barbados
, Puerto Plata
, and many other Caribbean destinations, as well as Vieques
, Mayagüez
, Culebra
and Aguadilla
on the domestic side.
In the 1980s Prinair introduced service with larger and more capable Convair 580 turboprop aircraft. This provided the plane spotter at San Juan with another interesting aircraft type to look out for, but did little for the airline other than help increase the earnings from the Virgin Islands routes. Increased competition for these routes from Aero Virgin Islands
and Oceanair
, in addition to a measure of distrust from the public that had not forgotten a number of fatal crashes, caused Prinair to cease operations in November, 1984. It was the intention that Prinair would have been one of the launch customers of the CASA CN-235
and at the roll-out of the new aircraft in September 1983 the prototype was actually painted in Prinair colors (right side only). However, the demise of Prinair prevented delivery.
During the 2000s, Prinair intended to return but it ceased operations again.
incidents during its existence.
On 5 March 1969 Prinair Flight 277 departed Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
for a flight to San Juan. Seventeen minutes after take-off, the crew contacted San Juan Approach Control. The approach controller on duty (a trainee) replied; "Prinair Two Seven Seven, San Juan Approach Control, radar contact three miles east of Isla Verde...maintain four thousand." The aircraft was actually three miles east of the Fajardo waypoint instead of the Isla Verde waypoint (which is located about 10 miles west of the Fajardo waypoint). Six minutes later the aircraft crashed in the Sierra de Luquillo mountains at an elevation of about 2400 feet; all 19 occupants were killed. The accident investigation found that Air Traffic Control was to blame.
On 24 June 1972 Prinair Flight 191
crashed after going around
just after touching down at Ponce's Mercedita Airport, killing five of the 20 occupants (including both pilots). An accident investigation found that the go-around was prompted by a vehicle on the runway, but the investigation was re-opened three years after the accident due to evidence that there was no vehicle on the runway; the second investigation concluded that the go-around was due to unknown reasons.
Prinair Flight 610 crashed moments after taking off at Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
on 24 July 1979 with the loss of eight lives. An accident investigation found that the aircraft had been overloaded by 1,060 pounds and that the center of gravity (CG) was 8 inches beyond the maximum rear limit.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
's domestic and international flag carrier
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
airline for almost two decades.
History
Services began in 1966, under the name Aerolíneas de Ponce (Ponce Airlines), with Aero Commanders. The initial service flew from Mercedita AirportMercedita Airport
Mercedita Airport is a commercial airport located three miles east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers and has one runway. Passenger movement at the airport in FY 2008 was 278,911, an astounding 1,228% increase over fiscal year 2003 and the highest of all...
in Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Carolina, Puerto Rico, three miles southeast of San Juan. Over 4 million passengers board a plane at the airport per year according to FAA reports . It is owned and managed by the Puerto Rico Ports...
(then known as Isla Verde International Airport) in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. The company's name was changed to Prinair the following year (Puerto Rico INternational AIR lines).
The airline later used de Havilland Heron
De Havilland Heron
The de Havilland DH.114 Heron was a small, propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, conventional low-wing monoplane with tricycle...
piston-engined aircraft for its services. The livery reminded the public of Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
because of the many different colors used. During the 1970s, expansion saw the airline start services to Opa-locka
Opa-locka, Florida
Opa-locka is a city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the mid decade census, the population was 15,376 as recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau....
(a Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
location close to Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
), Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
, the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata.The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Felipe de Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city.The only...
, and many other Caribbean destinations, as well as Vieques
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands...
, Mayagüez
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
, Culebra
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Isla Culebra is an island-municipality of Puerto Rico originally called Isla Pasaje and Isla de San Ildefonso. It is located approximately east of the Puerto Rican mainland, west of St. Thomas and north of Vieques. Culebra is spread over 5 wards and Culebra Pueblo...
and Aguadilla
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
on the domestic side.
In the 1980s Prinair introduced service with larger and more capable Convair 580 turboprop aircraft. This provided the plane spotter at San Juan with another interesting aircraft type to look out for, but did little for the airline other than help increase the earnings from the Virgin Islands routes. Increased competition for these routes from Aero Virgin Islands
Aero Virgin Islands
Aero Virgin Islands was an airline based in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.-History:Aero Virgin Islands Corp. began operating in the Caribbean during the late 1970s...
and Oceanair
Oceanair
Oceanair was an airline that used to fly out of Puerto Rico. It competed on domestic routes with Prinair, and on routes to the Virgin Islands with Prinair, and with Aero Virgin Islands, using propeller airplanes....
, in addition to a measure of distrust from the public that had not forgotten a number of fatal crashes, caused Prinair to cease operations in November, 1984. It was the intention that Prinair would have been one of the launch customers of the CASA CN-235
CASA CN-235
The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport plane that was jointly developed by CASA of Spain and IPTN of Indonesia as a regional airliner and military transport. Its primary military roles include maritime patrol, surveillance, and air transport...
and at the roll-out of the new aircraft in September 1983 the prototype was actually painted in Prinair colors (right side only). However, the demise of Prinair prevented delivery.
During the 2000s, Prinair intended to return but it ceased operations again.
Incidents and accidents
Prinair suffered three fatal accidents and two non-fatal hijackingAircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
incidents during its existence.
On 5 March 1969 Prinair Flight 277 departed Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
for a flight to San Juan. Seventeen minutes after take-off, the crew contacted San Juan Approach Control. The approach controller on duty (a trainee) replied; "Prinair Two Seven Seven, San Juan Approach Control, radar contact three miles east of Isla Verde...maintain four thousand." The aircraft was actually three miles east of the Fajardo waypoint instead of the Isla Verde waypoint (which is located about 10 miles west of the Fajardo waypoint). Six minutes later the aircraft crashed in the Sierra de Luquillo mountains at an elevation of about 2400 feet; all 19 occupants were killed. The accident investigation found that Air Traffic Control was to blame.
On 24 June 1972 Prinair Flight 191
Prinair Flight 191
Prinair Flight 191 was a Prinair flight from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Mercedita Airport in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At approximately 11:15pm on 24 June 1972, the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport...
crashed after going around
Go-around
A go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach.- Origin of the term :The term arises from the traditional use of traffic patterns at airfields. A landing aircraft will first join the circuit pattern and prepare for landing in an orderly fashion...
just after touching down at Ponce's Mercedita Airport, killing five of the 20 occupants (including both pilots). An accident investigation found that the go-around was prompted by a vehicle on the runway, but the investigation was re-opened three years after the accident due to evidence that there was no vehicle on the runway; the second investigation concluded that the go-around was due to unknown reasons.
Prinair Flight 610 crashed moments after taking off at Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...
on 24 July 1979 with the loss of eight lives. An accident investigation found that the aircraft had been overloaded by 1,060 pounds and that the center of gravity (CG) was 8 inches beyond the maximum rear limit.
Historical fleet
- 28 de Havilland HeronDe Havilland HeronThe de Havilland DH.114 Heron was a small, propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, conventional low-wing monoplane with tricycle...
- 4 Convair CV-580
- 7 CASA C-212 Aviocar