West Caribbean Airways Flight 708

Common card · No. 217739

West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a charter flight that crashed in northwest Venezuela in the early hours of 16 August 2005, killing all 160 passengers and crew on board. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registration HK-4374X, was en route from Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama, to Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Fort-de-France, Martinique. While flying at 33,000 ft (10,000 m), the aircraft's speed gradually decreased until it entered an aerodynamic stall. The crew, probably under the mistaken belief that the aircraft had suffered a double engine flameout, did not take the necessary actions to recover from the stall. The confusion and lack of action resulted in the crash. The death toll made the accident the deadliest of 2005, as well as the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Venezuela, and the second deadliest involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series after Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308.

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