Viasa Flight 742
Encyclopedia
Viasa Flight 742 was an international, scheduled passenger flight from Maracaibo, Venezuela to Miami, Florida
that crashed on 16 March 1969. Faulty temperature sensors along the runway resulted in an incorrect takeoff configuration, and the aircraft was unable to gain altitude quickly enough. The DC-9-30 hit a series of power lines before crashing into the La Trinidad section of Maracaibo. All 84 people on board perished, as well as 71 on the ground.
The DC-9 involved in the crash was on lease from Avensa
and had only been in service a few weeks. It was a common practice of Viasa
to lease aircraft from other carriers.
When Flight 742 crashed it was the first ever loss of a DC-9-30, and it remains the worst accident involving that class of aircraft. It is the second worst accident in Venezuela. At the time, the crash was the world's worst civil air disaster.
One of the people who perished in the Viasa Flight 742 crash was San Francisco Giant pitching prospect Néstor Chávez
.
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...
that crashed on 16 March 1969. Faulty temperature sensors along the runway resulted in an incorrect takeoff configuration, and the aircraft was unable to gain altitude quickly enough. The DC-9-30 hit a series of power lines before crashing into the La Trinidad section of Maracaibo. All 84 people on board perished, as well as 71 on the ground.
The DC-9 involved in the crash was on lease from Avensa
Avensa
Avensa was a Venezuelan airline headquartered in Caracas. It is in the process of financial restructuring, after it went into bankruptcy due to poor management in 2002...
and had only been in service a few weeks. It was a common practice of Viasa
Viasa
Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima , or VIASA for short, was the Venezuelan national airline between 1960 and 1997. It was headquartered in the Torre Viasa in Caracas. Launched in 1960, it was nationalised in 1975 due to financial problems, and re-privatised in 1991, with the...
to lease aircraft from other carriers.
When Flight 742 crashed it was the first ever loss of a DC-9-30, and it remains the worst accident involving that class of aircraft. It is the second worst accident in Venezuela. At the time, the crash was the world's worst civil air disaster.
One of the people who perished in the Viasa Flight 742 crash was San Francisco Giant pitching prospect Néstor Chávez
Néstor Chávez
Néstor Isaías Chávez Silva was a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants .Chávez was born on July 6, 1947 in Chacao, Miranda State, Venezuela. He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1964 after going for a 34-3 record at the college...
.