1938 Santa Ana air show disaster
The 1938 Santa Ana air show disaster occurred on 24 July 1938 at a military review on the Campo de Marte in the Santa Ana district of Bogota, Colombia. During the review, a Curtiss Hawk II biplane of the Colombian Air Force piloted by Lieutenant César Abadia performed a stunt before crashing into a grandstand and then into the crowd.
 A similar Hawk II of the Colombian Air Force | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 24 July 1938 |
| Summary | Pilot error |
| Site | Campo de Marte, Bogota, Colombia 04°41′07″N 074°02′15″W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Curtiss Hawk II |
| Operator | Colombian Air Force |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 53 (including 52 on ground)[1] |
| Injuries | 100+ (on ground) |
The pilot attempted to fly between the presidential stand and the stand for diplomats when he miscalculated the distance and the aircraft's wing-tip struck the diplomatic stand. The Hawk II destroyed part of the roof of the presidential stand and then careened through the crowd bursting into flames before it came to a stop upside down.[2] Over fifty people, including civilians and soldiers were killed, and over a hundred injured.[3] Among those in the presidential stand but uninjured were the outgoing Colombian President Alfonso López Pumarejo and his successor Eduardo Santos.[4] Among the wounded was Misael Pastrana Borrero, a future president of Colombia.
See also
- Lists of air show accidents and incidents
- Sknyliv air show disaster – another air show disaster caused by a single military aircraft and resulting in over 50 fatalities
References
- "Accident Details". Plane Crash info.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- "Plane's Crash into Crowd – 140 Killed and Injured". The Times (48056). London. 26 July 1938. p. 12.
- "Accident Synopsis – 1938-28". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- "Plane crashes into crowd as number killed". The Advertiser. 25 July 1938. Retrieved 7 February 2014.