The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered HI-177, was built by McDonnell Douglas the previous year. It had its maiden flight on September 30, 1969. The aircraft was registered HI-177 and transferred to Dominicana on December 16 the same year. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 turbofan engines. It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month when it crashed.
Accident
The jetliner was on an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It took off at about 6:30 PM. Two minutes after departure one of its engines lost power. The crew declared an emergency, telling air traffic controllers that the right engine had flamed out, and they requested to immediately return to the airport. While preparing to turn back toward the airport, the left engine also flamed out. The aircraft then descended until it hit the sea about two miles south of the airport. There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board.
Notable victims
Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:
The coach and eleven players of Puerto Rico's women's national volleyball team, who were returning home after a friendly game against the Dominican Republic's women's national team.
Investigation
There were initially concerns of a terrorist attack as the family of Antonio Imbert Barrera was onboard. However, the investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was the sequential failure of both engines caused by fuel pollution due to water ingress.
Aftermath
This was not Dominicana's first fatal accident. Eight months before, on June 23, 1969 in Miami, Florida, Dominicana Flight 401 crashed after take-off also due to an engine failure. The Aviation Traders Carvair lost control and crashed into buildings, killing all four people on board as well as six people on the ground. Immediately after the Santo Domingo crash, Dominicana suspended all operations. Four of the airline's mechanics were reportedly arrested as well. In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from the Spanish airline Iberia. Dominicana eventually resumed full services, including to the United States. The airline flew until 1995 when it suspended services indefinitely, finally officially ceasing all operations during 1999.
