Dominicana Flight 603

Dominicana Flight 603,^[1] also known as the Dominicana de Aviación Santo Domingo DC-9 air disaster, was an international flight that had a fatal accident, which occurred on February 15, 1970 when a Dominicana de Aviación (Dominican Airlines) McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 twin-engine jet airliner crashed shortly after taking off from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crash killed all 102 passengers and crew on board.^[2] Four airline employees are believed to have been arrested in connection with the crash.

Aircraft

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered HI-177, had been built by McDonnell Douglas the previous year. It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month when it crashed.^[2][3]

Accident

The jetliner was on an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It took off at about 6:30pm. Two minutes after departure one of its engines lost power. The aircraft then descended until it hit the sea.^[2] There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board.^[2]

Notable victims

Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:

• former world lightweight boxing champion Carlos Cruz, his wife and their two children
• the wife, daughter and sister of Antonio Imbert Barrera, a Dominican Army Major General who participated in the plot to kill the dictator Rafael Trujillo in Santo Domingo in 1961
• Juan Ramón Loubriel, who had participated in three professional sports leagues in Puerto Rico (basketball, volleyball and association football)
• Migdalia Diaz, a Puerto Rican model who assisted host Fidel Cabrera in the WAPA-TV dating program Extranos En La Noche
• the coach and eleven players of Puerto Rico's women's national volleyball team,^[4] who were returning home after a friendly game against the Dominican Republic's women's national team. The few Puerto Rican volleyball players who could not be accommodated on the flight tearfully heard news of the crash on television.

Regarding rumors stating that the Puerto Rican salsa orchestra El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico was set to board the flight but did not when one of its members had a bad feeling about the flight and convinced the others not to take it, bandleader Rafael Ithier said that was not true. The band was at Venezuela that day and arrived at Santo Domingo the day after the accident.^[5]

Aftermath

Dominicana suspended its operations immediately after the crash; reportedly four of its mechanics were arrested as well.^[3] In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from Spanish airline Iberia.^[3][6]

Dominicana soon resumed full services, including to the United States. The airline flew until 1995 when it suspended services indefinitely; finally officially ceasing operations during 1999.

See also

• Aviation safety
• Flight 603 (disambiguation), a list of notable air incidents using the same number
• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
• List of accidents involving sports teams

References

1. ↑ "La esquina de Múllix". 
2. 1 2 3 4 D. Gero (2005-05-21). "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 HI-177 Santo Domingo". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2008-11-23. 
3. 1 2 3 "FAA Suspends Dominicana", Flight International, 19 March 1970, p.421 (online archive version) retrieved 16 November 2012
4. ↑ "The Windsor Star - Google News Archive Search". 
5. ↑ "Una tragedia aérea que aún duele". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 12 February 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2016. 
6. ↑ "Dominicana to Resume", Flight International, 16 April 1970, p.615 (online archive version) retrieved 16 November 2012

External links

• Fatal McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Events
• Major Aviation Accidents of the Super70s