THROWBACKTHISDAY; The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.

                              

 

The 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster took place on December 8, 1987, when a Peruvian Navy Fokker F27-400M chartered by Peruvian football club Alianza Lima plunged into the Pacific Ocean six miles short of its destination, off the Ventanilla District of the city of Callao. On board the flight were a total of 44 players, managers, staff, cheerleaders, and crewmembers, of whom only the pilot survived the accident. The team was returning from a Peruvian league match in Pucallpa. Uncomfortable with the malfunctioning indicator on his control panel, the pilot requested a flyby of the control tower at Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport so that spotters on the ground could confirm that the plane's landing gear was down and locked. Upon receiving visual confirmation of safe configuration for landing, the plane went around for another attempt at a landing. The Fokker flew too low and plunged into the Pacific.

Following the crash, the Peruvian Navy shut itself off from the press, and did not release the results of its investigation nor did it allow private investigations to take place. Allegations were made that the accident had been caused by the aircraft's shoddy mechanical condition, and the Navy concealed the truth in order to save face amidst the chaos the country was enduring at the hands of the Sendero Luminoso terrorist movement. It was not until 2006 that a Peruvian television program revealed that the results of the official inquiry into the cause of the disaster had been concealed by the Peruvian Navy. The investigation cited the pilot's lack of night flying experience, his misreading of the emergency procedures related to the landing gear issue, and the aircraft's poor mechanical condition as contributing factors to the accident.

A total of 43 players, managers, staff, cheerleaders, and crewmembers lost their lives in the accident; only the pilot survived. At the time, it was the eighth-worst accident in the history of Peruvian aviation. The Peruvian Football Federation chose not to end the football season early, despite the loss of what amounted to the majority of Alianza's team; the club played their last few matches with retired volunteers including Teófilo Cubillas and César Cueto, players from its youth teams, and players loaned by Chilean club Colo Colo. The accident was disastrous for Alianza, who lost their most promising squad in a decade, as well as that year's league title to crosstown rival Universitario de Deportes.

THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 28 years and TBT Blog remembers the victims.