- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: August 16, 2005
Time: 0330
Location: Near La Cucharita, Venezuela
Operator: West Caribbean Airways
Flight #: 708
Route: Panama City - Fort de France, Martinique
AC Type: McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Registration: HK-4374X
cn / ln: 49484/1315
Aboard: 160   (passengers:152  crew:8)
Fatalities: 160   (passengers:152  crew:8)
Ground: 0
Summary: While en route, the crew reported engine trouble with both engines and planed to divert to Caracas. The plane began losing altitude and eventually crashed in the Sierra de Perija mountains on the Columbian-Venezuelan border. The autopilot might have reduced engine power too much after a rapid climb to FL330, allowing airspeed to bleed off to the point of a stall. Also the data recorder showed that rather than push the nose over to recover from the stall, the pilots held the yoke to their chests all the way to the ground. It has also been suggesting that a buildup of ice inside each engine's PT2 probe was responsible for the accident.
Sources

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