LAN-Chile Flight 160

LAN-Chile Flight 160 was a Boeing 727-116 on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile carrying 8 crew and 52 passengers which crashed during approach to Santiago on April 28, 1969.

LAN-Chile Flight 160

A Boeing 727 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	April 28, 1969
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Near Colina, Chile
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-116
Operator	LAN-Chile
Registration	CC-CAQ
Flight origin	Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Argentina
Destination	Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, Chile
Occupants	60
Passengers	52
Crew	8
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	60

Details of flight

Flight 160 took off from Ministro Pistarini International Airport at 23:56 GMT (20:56 local time), but when nearing Santiago the Boeing 727 descended below the minimum height of 2829 feet and kept on descending until it struck the ground in farm land north of Colina, Chile.^[1]

Survivors

While the aircraft was damaged beyond repair in the crash, none of the 60 passengers and crew were killed or injured.

Cause

The cause of the accident was excessive concentration by the crew on the indications given by the flight director instrument, which was being incorrectly used on a direct instrument landing system (ILS) approach. The crew did not check other instruments, which showed that the aircraft was descending below its glidepath.^[2]