View source for TAESA Flight 725

{{Short description|1999 aviation accident in Mexico}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|occurrence_type = Accident
|name = TAESA Flight 725
|Date              = {{Start date|df=y|1999|11|09}}
|image             = TAESA XA-TKN.jpg
| image_upright    = 1.15
| caption           = XA-TKN, the aircraft involved in the accident
| type               = [[Pilot error]] and [[spatial disorientation]] resulting in a [[deep stall]] and loss of control{{fact|date=May 2019}}
 |site               = Near [[Uruapan International Airport]], [[Uruapan]], [[Michoacán]], [[Mexico]]
| occupants          = 18
| passengers         = 13
| crew               = 5
| fatalities         = 18
| survivors          = 0
| aircraft_type      = [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31]]
| tail_number        = XA-TKN
| operator           = [[TAESA Lineas Aéreas]]
| origin             = [[Tijuana International Airport]], [[Tijuana]], Baja California
| stopover0          = [[Guadalajara International Airport]], [[Guadalajara]], Jalisco
| last_stopover      = [[Uruapan International Airport]], [[Uruapan]], Michoacán
|destination         = [[Mexico City International Airport]], Mexico City
}}

'''TAESA Flight 725''' was a scheduled flight originating in [[Tijuana International Airport]] and ending at [[Mexico City International Airport]] with intermediate stopovers in [[Guadalajara]] and [[Uruapan]], that crashed shortly after departure from the latter city's airport on November 9, 1999, killing all 18 passengers and crew on board.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999-11-10 |title=Plane falls from sky in central Mexico, killing 18 |language=en |work=DeseretNews.com |url=https://www.deseret.com/1999/11/10/19474829/plane-falls-from-sky-in-central-mexico-killing-18/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227045848/https://www.deseret.com/1999/11/10/19474829/plane-falls-from-sky-in-central-mexico-killing-18 |archive-date=2022-02-27}}</ref> The crash led [[TAESA Lineas Aéreas|TAESA]] to ground its fleet and suspend operations a year later in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dillon |first=Sam |date=1999-11-25 |title=INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; Mexico Grounds Entire Fleet Of Airline Involved in Crash |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/25/business/international-business-mexico-grounds-entire-fleet-of-airline-involved-in-crash.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2018-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509123336/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/25/business/international-business-mexico-grounds-entire-fleet-of-airline-involved-in-crash.html |archive-date=2014-05-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Investigators determined that the crew did not use the appropriate checklists prior to departure, and during the climbout, the pilots were confused about which heading to follow. Spatial disorientation was also believed to be a factor in the crash.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |date= |title=ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31F XA-TKN Uruapan |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19991109-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205134947/https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19991109-0 |archive-date=2022-02-05 |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=aviation-safety.net |publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref>

== Aircraft ==
The aircraft operating the flight was an McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-31, manufactured by McDonnell-Douglas, and first entered service with [[Trans Australia Airlines]] in February 1970. It was 29 years old at the time of the accident and accumulated more than 59,000 takeoff/landing cycles and 58,000 flight hours. Before being delivered to TAESA Lineas Aéreas, it previously operated for [[Australian Airlines]], [[Sunworld International Airlines]], [[Midway Airlines (1993–2003)|Midway Airlines]], [[NASA]] and [[Aeroméxico]].<ref name=":0"/>

== Passengers and crew ==
The captain was 36-year-old Jesús José Gracián. He had 5,368 flight hours. The first officer was 22-year-old Héctor Valdez, who had 250 flight hours at the time of the accident.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Listado de personas a bordo |trans-title=List of people on board |url=http://www.terra.com.mx/noticias/articulo/20427/Podria+Taesa+ver+rescindida+su+concesion.htm&paginaid=12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816122403/http://www.terra.com.mx/noticias/articulo/20427/Podria+Taesa+ver+rescindida+su+concesion.htm&paginaid=12 |archive-date=2010-08-16 |access-date=2019-03-23 |website=terra.com |language=es}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=March 2019}} 

There were 18 people on board the DC-9 at the time it crashed, with 13 passengers and 5 crew members.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1999-11-10 |title=18 Killed In Mexico Plane Crash |work=[[CBS News]] |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/18-killed-in-mexico-plane-crash/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109225314/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/18-killed-in-mexico-plane-crash/ |archive-date=2022-11-09}}</ref>

== Flight ==
The aircraft departed Uruapan for Mexico City at 18:59 local time. After [[Rotation (aeronautics)|rotation]], the aircraft pitched up abnormally high, entered a stall, nosed over and crashed into an avocado field {{convert|3.3|mi|km|order=flip}} south of the runway on a heading of 110 degrees. All 18 people on board were killed.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.boeing.com/news/breakingnews/991109a.html Boeing Expresses Condolences After TAESA Accident] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20000818213451/http://www.boeing.com/news/breakingnews/991109a.html Archive]) - [[Boeing]]
* [https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X20108 NTSB Identification]

{{McDonnell Douglas DC-9 family}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Mexico}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999}}
{{Portal bar|Mexico|Aviation}}
{{coord missing|Michoacán}}

[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Mexico]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9]]
[[Category:1999 in Mexico]]
[[Category:November 1999 in Mexico]]
[[Category:Transportation in Michoacán]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999]]


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