Independent Air Flight 1851 [SEP] point in time
Independent Air Flight 1851
On 8 February 1989, Independent Air Flight 1851, a Boeing 707 on an American charter flight from Bergamo, Italy to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, struck Pico Alto while on approach to Santa Maria Airport in the Azores for a scheduled stopover. The aircraft was destroyed, with the loss of all 144 on board, resulting in the deadliest plane crash in Portugal's history. Due to the large number of tourists from Italy that perished in this tragedy, it is known in Italian as "“
the deadliest airplane accident in Portugal to that point. As of 2018, it is the second deadliest airplane accident in Portugal, after Independent Air Flight 1851. It remains TAP Portugal's only fatal accident since the beginning of its flight operations in 1946.
Investigation.
According to the findings of the investigation, the aircraft was in good condition before impact with the bridge, and the crew was qualified for the flight. The report concluded that, the flight crew violated the approach procedure, with the aircraft touching down 2060