View source for Prinair Flight 191

{{More citations|date=April 2024}}
{{short description|1972 aviation accident}}
{{for|other flights numbered 191|Flight 191 (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|name            = Prinair Flight 191
|image           = DH.114 Heron 2 mod N574PR Prinair 011273.jpg
|alt             = 
|caption         = A Prinair de Havilland DH.114, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
|occurrence_type = Accident
|date            = June 24, 1972
|site            = [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]]
|coordinates     = {{Coord|18|0|22|N|66|33|37|W|display=inline,title}}
|aircraft_type   = [[de Havilland Heron|de Havilland DH.114 Heron 2B]]
|aircraft_name   = 
|operator        = [[Prinair]]
|tail_number     = N554PR
|origin          = [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport|Luis Muñoz Marín Int'l Airport]]
|stopover        = 
|stopover0       = 
|last_stopover   = 
|destination     = [[Mercedita Airport]]
|occupants       = 20
|passengers      = 18
|crew            = 2
|fatalities      = 5
|injuries        = 15
|missing         = 
|survivors       = 15
|type            = [[Pilot error]]
}}
'''Prinair Flight 191''' was a [[Prinair]] (Puerto Rico International Airlines) flight from [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport]] in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], to [[Mercedita Airport]] in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]]. At approximately 11:15pm on June 24, 1972, the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport. Five people died in the accident<ref name="NTSB1">{{Cite web |date=December 20, 1972 |title=Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7234.pdf |access-date=14 August 2008 |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=NTSB-AAR-72-54}}</ref> and the remaining people were injured.

== Aircraft and crew ==
The flight was operated by a [[de Havilland Heron|de Havilland DH.114 Heron 2B]] aircraft, registration number N554PR. The aircraft was almost fully loaded, with eighteen passengers and a crew of two on board.{{EFN|The two NTSB accident reports used as sources describe N554PR as being modified to have 20 passenger seats.}} The flight was under the command of [[Pilot in command|Captain]] Donald Price (28), a very experienced airman who had clocked approximately 8,300 total flight hours, more than 3,000 of which were accrued in the aircraft type. The [[first officer (aviation)|first officer]] was Gary Belejeu (27). Far less experienced than the captain, Belejeu had logged roughly 1,400 total flight hours, with 102 hours in the DH-114.<ref name="NTSB2" />

== Flight and accident ==
The flight was uneventful up to the moment of landing. As the flight was late at night, the control tower at Mercedita Airport was closed, therefore the flight crew was responsible for the landing clearance.<ref name="NTSB1"/> Just after touching down on the runway at Mercedita Airport the flight crew made a decision to [[Go-around|go around]]. The pilot over-rotated the aircraft and caused it to [[stall (flight)|stall]] at a low level and crash; three passengers and the two flight crew members died, the other fifteen passengers were injured, seven severely. Heavy fog was also a contributing factor in this accident.<ref name="NTSB1"/>

== Investigation ==
The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (NTSB) investigation concluded that the probable cause was the "presence of an unauthorized vehicle on the runway which caused the pilot to attempt a go-around after touchdown to avoid a collision. The maneuver resulted in an overrotation of the aircraft at too low an airspeed to sustain flight".<ref name="NTSB1"/> This was based on eyewitness accounts of a set of lights visible on the runway as Flight 191 approached, and other eyewitness accounts of a vehicle owned by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority being parked shortly after the accident and the driver acting in a suspicious manner.<ref name="NTSB1"/>

Three years after the accident the NTSB was compelled to re-open the investigation into the crash, after submissions were received that the person who was suspected of driving the "unauthorized vehicle" had actually left the airport about fifteen minutes before the aircraft crashed.<ref name="NTSB2"/> The second investigation concluded that there was no airport vehicle on the runway, and that the reason for the go-around of the aircraft was unknown; a new report was issued, explaining the evidence as to the location of the airport vehicle and amending the Probable Cause to remove reference to a vehicle being on the runway.<ref name="NTSB2">{{Cite web |date=1976-01-13 |title=Aircraft Accident Report - Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair), Inc., DeHavilland DH-114, N554PR, Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 24, 1972 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7234.pdf |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=NTSB-AAR-75-17}} - [https://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR72-34.pdf Alternate at] [[Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University]].</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft]]

==Notes==

{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1970s}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Puerto Rico}}
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error]]
[[Category:1972 in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Prinair accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Heron]]
[[Category:June 1972 in North America]]
[[Category:Mercedita International Airport]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1972]]