LAPA Flight 3142

Introduction
LAPA Flight 3142 was a passenger flight from Buenos Aires to Córdoba, Argentina. The plane overran the runway after the crew of the flight made multiple mistakes.

Pilots
Captain Gustavo R. Weigel and First Officer Luis Etcheverry were in the cockpit, but weren't doing a great job during the crash.

The Crash
LAPA Flight 3142 taxied to Runway 13 of Aeroparque Airport, and began to take off. But something was wrong. A loud alarm sounded in the cockpit, and the pilots were confused to what it was. They continued the take-off with the alarm going, thinking it wasn't something very major. The plane's nose lifted off the ground, and with it so did the rest of the plane. But, it wouldn't climb. The plane stayed hovering a few feet above the runway, unable to continue climbing. Captain Weigel, worried, removed all thrust and set the engines to deploy both thrust reversers. The plane began to slow, but they didn't have enough runway to stop. The plane crashed through the airport's fence, and drove directly over a highway, killing 2 and injuring another 3. It slammed into an embankment at the other end of the highway, and the aircraft exploded into flames. Fuel in both engines was now on fire, and passengers needed to find an escape fast. A total of 37 passengers and crew made it out of the crash alive, but 65 were killed. Now the question was, why?

Rule-breaking
When taxiing to the runway, both pilots were distracted by a flight attendant, whom they knew as a friend, who was talking to them in the cockpit. This broke the rule stating that nothing personal must be spoken about in the cockpit before reaching cruising altitude, similar to how you can't leave your seat until the seat-belt sign is off (or you've reached cruising altitude). And another person being in the cockpit was banned in 1998 when Proteus Airlines Flight 706 collided with a Cessna after a passenger asked if the pilots could detour to see the nearby Norway boat. It was also understood that Captain Weigel was smoking in the cockpit before the take-off, something that was banned on the airline. But this wasn't the worst of it. After talking with the flight attendant, Captain Weigel took-off, stating that the pre-flight checks were done, when they were only half-done. And that half contained changing the angle of the flaps, meaning the pilots were attempting to take-off without flaps. This also explains why the alarm in the cockpit went off, as it was alerting them of the flaps not being extended for take-off. And this wasn't the first time this mistake was made...


 * In 2008, Spanair Flight 5022 crashed after the flight crew rushed to get off the ground, forgetting to extend their flaps. It slammed into a hill soon after take-off and killed 154 people.LAPA Flight 3142 Site.jpg
 * Delta Airlines Flight 1141 killed 14 people after the pilots were distracted and forgot to extend the flaps.
 * Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashed into a major residential area in Indonesia shortly after take-off due to the flaps not being extended. It killed 149 people.
 * Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after the pilots didn't extend their flaps, and killed 156 people. A sole survivor made it out alive, a 4-year-old girl who had sustained multiple injuries.

The accident would later be made into a Argentinian film titled 'Whisky Romeo Zulu '.

May all 65 of the lives lost that day rest in peace.