Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940
A Mexicana Boeing 727, similar to the one involved | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | March 31, 1986 |
| Summary | In-flight fire due to poor maintenance, leading to loss of control and in-flight breakup |
| Site | |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727-264 |
| Aircraft name | Veracruz |
| Operator | Mexicana de Aviación |
| IATA flight No. | MX940 |
| ICAO flight No. | MXA940 |
| Call sign | MEXICANA 940 |
| Registration | XA-MEM |
| Flight origin | Mexico City International Airport, Mexico City, Mexico |
| 1st stopover | Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Last stopover | Mazatlán International Airport, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico |
| Destination | Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupants | 167 |
| Passengers | 159 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 167 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940 was a scheduled international flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles with stopovers in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán. On March 31, 1986, the aircraft serving the route, a Boeing 727-200 registered as XA-MEM, crashed into El Carbón, a mountain in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range northwest of Mexico City, killing everyone on board. With 167 deaths, the crash of Flight 940 is the deadliest aviation disaster ever on Mexican soil, and the deadliest involving a Boeing 727.
An inquiry was opened by the Mexican government with additional assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by an explosion that originated in the wheel well. The wheel had overheated during the take-off run as it had suffered high drag on the ground, which was caused by faulty brakes. Fire ensued as the explosion ignited the fuel and hydraulic liquids, causing the fire to quickly grow. The aircraft suffered structural failure, due to the severity of the fire causing a large area of the fuselage to melt, and crashed onto the side of the mountain.