Crew errors, probable cause of 2018 Cuban plane crash

HAVANA, Cuba, May 17 (ACN) Crew actions and miscalculations during the take-off maneuver are the most likely cause of the plane crash of May 18, 2018, when a Boeing-737 from the Mexican company Damojh S.A., chartered by the Cuban Aviation Company, crashed at the José Martí international airport in this capital.

The most likely cause of the accident was the actions of the crew and their errors in weight and balance calculations, which led to the loss of control and collapse of the aircraft during the takeoff stage, said Armando Daniel Lopez, president of the Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba (IACC).
The official added that the Investigating Commission reached this conclusion after analyzing the data provided by the flight recorders (black boxes) of the aircraft and the result obtained from the characterization of the aeronautical standards for this flight.
The IACC recognizes the cooperation of all the people and institutions during the investigation, as well as the National Transportation Security Board, the U.S. manufacturer Boeing and the aviation authority of Mexico, he said in his appearance before the media.

The findings of the investigation are released almost a year after the incident as a result of a process involving specialists from Cuba, Mexico (country of origin of the company and crew) and the United States (country of aircraft construction).
In June 2018, Cuban civil aeronautics authorities explained that the investigation constituted a complex process in which all technical records would be evaluated, including the black boxes, the information provided by the control tower and the airport, the testimonies of witnesses to the accident and the airline personnel who were in Cuba.
The investigation included the use of records and mathematical models to reconstruct all the actions performed in the flight, which were then compared with the results obtained from the rest of the investigations carried out on the recovered parts of the aircraft.
The Boeing-737 took off from José Martí International Airport on May 18, 2018, bound for the northeastern city of Holguín and immediately fell to the ground, a disaster in which 112 people lost their lives and which was survived only by the young Mailén Díaz Almaguer, who is still recovering from the injuries suffered.