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Fatal Events Since 1970 for Cubana

The following events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role. Excluded would be events where the only passengers killed were stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs.

1. 6 October 1976; Cubana DC8-40; near Barbados: Shortly after departing Barbados, a bomb exploded in the rear of the aircraft and started an uncontrollable fire. During the air turn back, the crew was apparently incapacitated by the smoke and fumes and lost control of the aircraft. All 15 crew members and 58 passengers were killed.

2. 19 January 1985; Cubana Ilyushin 18D; near Havana, Cuba: The aircraft had just departed and was executing a procedure turn when the aircraft apparently had an engine failure, lost control, and spiraled into the ground. All eight crew members and 33 passengers were killed.

3. 3 September 1989; Cubana Ilyushin 62M; near Havana, Cuba: Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into a community about 1.5 miles (2 km) from the airport. The takeoff was performed at night in gusting winds and heavy rain from local thunderstorms. All 11 crew members and 115 passengers were killed. Also killed were 14 people on the ground.

4. 24 October 1990; Cubana Yak 40; near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: During the approach phase of the third landing attempt, the aircraft struck a high plateau about five miles (eight km) from the airport. The crash occurred at night under rainy conditions. Two of the four crew members and nine of the 27 passengers were killed. The Civil Aviation Institute of Cuba stated that the accident was caused by the flight crew attempting to execute a visual approach under instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions.

5. 11 July 1997; Cubana Antonov 24; near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: The aircraft crashed into the sea about three minutes after takeoff on a night flight to Havana. All five crew members and 39 passengers were killed.

6. 29 August 1998; Cubana Tupolev 154M; Quito, Equador: After two other attempted takeoffs, the aircraft crashed during its third takeoff attempt for a flight to Guayaquil. The aircraft came down in a neighborhood near the airport. All 14 crew members and 57 of the 76 passengers were killed. Ten persons on the ground were also killed.

7. 21 December 1999; Cubana DC10-30; Guatemala City, Guatemala: The aircraft overran the wet runway and came to rest in a residential neighborhood adjacent to the airport. Eight of the 18 crew members and nine of the 296 passengers on the chartered flight were killed, as were nine people in the neighborhood.
   Other Fatal DC10 Events

8. 25 December 1999; Cubana Yak42; near Valencia, Venezuela: The aircraft was approaching Valencia after a flight from Havana when the aircraft struck high ground about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Valencia. All 12 crew members 10 passengers were killed.