Colombian Peril: Avianca's Tragic 727-021s

Few nations can stake a claim to the dubious honour of being the least peaceful and most dangerous places to live, however unfortunately for Colombia it could lay claim to be a contender for much of the past 70 years. Even without the country's ongoing conflict operating in its relatively low technology and challenging environment was difficult enough. These factors have as you'd expect had an impact on the operations of Colombia's airlines and can be seen in the history of a select batch of Avianca's 727s.

Rather than civil war Wikipedia talks of an 'asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict' which perhaps goes someway to hint at the underlying complexities of Colombia's recent history; with multiple armed groups fighting central government, with corruption and kidnapping rife and it all fuelled by narcotics production and trafficking. Suffice to say an exploration of Colombia's recent past is out of scope here, however throughout the entire period the world's second oldest operating airline Avianca has continued to carry passengers.

Avianca Boeing 727-021 HK-1717 Aeroclassics 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

Avianca was a Boeing customer for all its jet equipment from 1960 until 1991 when its first McDonnell Douglas MD-80s arrived on lease. Therefore it is not surprising that the 727 was a natural choice for its domestic and regional routes, especially as the type had proven itself well equipped for operations in challenging environments like South America. Avianca began jet operations with a leased Pan Am 707-121 and acquired its own Boeing 720s in 1961 and 1965 for a fleet of three of the type. The new 727s began to arrive in 1966.

Avianca 727 delivery scheme - note Condor logo near nose

Avianca was undergoing a major fleet upgrade and expansion at the time which would also see a pair of new 707-320Bs and a pair of 737-100s arrive in 1968. The first 727-059 was registered, appropriately, HK-727 and arrived in March 1966 wearing the airline's old blue cheatline scheme with the Condor logo on the nose. She was followed by three more 727-059s by December 1967. Avianca used the 727s initially on long international sectors to the USA but found them unable to carry enough cargo so they were switched to shorter routes and the number ordered reduced.

By 1970 Avianca had rebranded replacing the blue and white with a red top separated from a natural metal belly by a thin black stripe. The Condor logo was replaced by a new AV symbol on the tail.

Into the 1970s Avianca added second-hand jets including a selection of 727-100s as well as further 707s and 720s. In part these replaced the two 737-100s. The first were a trio of ex-Continental Airlines 727-024s in late 1971 followed by four ex-Pan Am 727-021s from October 1974. HK-1717 had been originally delivered to Pan Am in January 1966 as N315PA 'Clipper White Falcon'.

Timetable image from http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/av2.htm

The airline's first 727-200s arrived in 1978 but they were not series 259s. Instead the first pair were 2A1s originally destined for VASP and these were followed by a pair of leased 727-2Q9s. It wasn't until 1980 that a trio of series 259s also joined the fleet. The addition of 7 727-200s didn't stop further series 100s from arriving however. During the 1980s a diverse fleet of 13 727-100s arrived, often on relatively short leases. These included 727-022s, 727-021s, 727-095s, 727-044s, 727-051s, 727-046s and 727-035s. The various customer numbers illustrating their varied histories with three of the aircraft leased from Dan Air London one at a time for much of the decade.

One of the four 1974 ex-Pan Am 727-021s, HK-1804, was moved on - being sent to subsidiary SAM in June 1982. This was no blessing however as she became the first of the four to be lost. On Wednesday October 5, 1983 she was damaged beyond repair in a wheels up landing at San Andrés Island Airport.

Far left: Avianca logo until 1977

Avianca's 727-100 fleet

As the 1980s progressed the drug-fuelled civil conflict grew worse and began to severely impact Avianca's operations. It was during the 1988-90 period that the three remaining 727-21s would suffer serious attrition. First on March 17, 1988 all 143 passengers and crew onboard were killed when HK-1716 was destroyed when it flew into a mountain minutes after take-off from Cúcuta. The cause of the crash was deemed to be pilot error however 18 months later the loss of this aircraft's sistership HK-1803 was anything but.

On November 27, 1989 HK-1803 was blown up five minutes after take-off from Bogotá by a bomb planted on the orders of Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medellín drug cartel. All 107 onboard perished (plus 3 people on the ground). The cruel act was designed to kill a presidential candidate who in the end wasn't even onboard the flight. The event spurred the US Bush administration to get more deeply involved in the Colombian situation and shocked the nation into finding the resolve to begin to confront the domestic chaos.

Avianca began to retire its remaining 727-100s and they were all gone by early 1993 replaced by MD-83s and Fokker 100s. The single surviving 727-21, HK-1717, was sold to Aerosucre and converted to a freighter. Sadly even though 31.5 years old by 1997 her career too was ended prematurely when on June 25 she was involved in an aborted take-off from Bogota. Whilst accelerating down the wet runway the crew heard two explosions and aborted the take-off, however the aircraft was overloaded and could not stop on the remaining runway. She overran by 500 metres losing the nosegear and being damaged beyond repair. Fortunately none of the 6 crew were killed.

So ended the long but ultimately unpleasant careers of all four of the 727-021s Avianca took on in 1974. It is an odd coincidence that all four were lost when the majority of Aviancas other 727s had standard careers.

References

1994, Nov/Dec. Avianca Turns 75. Airlines Issue 30
Avianca Flight 410
Avianca Flight 203
Avianca's 727 Fleet. rzjets.net
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