World Notes Disasters

Bilbao Sondica Airport in Spain's northern Basque country has a notorious history of foggy weather and low cloud cover. But last Tuesday morning, the skies were clear as Iberia Airlines Flight 610 from Madrid began its landing approach. A few moments later, only 19 miles from the airport, the plane struck the tip of a 177-ft.-high television antenna on Mount Oiz (elevation 3,366 ft.), burst into flames and crashed into a wooded hillside. All 148 people aboard were killed. Three Americans were among the passengers, as was Bolivia's Minister of Labor, Gonzalo Guzman.

The crash was the third major air disaster in Spain in less than 15 months and brought the total death toll to 422. Said Manuel Lopez de Pedro, president of the Spanish airline pilots' association: "Something must be very wrong with Spanish aviation when there are so many accidents." While the exact cause of last week's crash is still under investigation, it appears that Pilot Jose Luis Patino was flying three miles off course and 1,000 ft. too low when the plane hit the TV mast. Neither the antenna nor Mount Oiz was on the plane's official approach map.