Investigation Summary
The flight was the final leg of a Paris to Quito service. Because demand for the Bogotá to Quito segment was insufficient for Air France's Airbus A340, the airline wet-leased a Boeing 727 from the Ecuadorian carrier TAME. On the day of the accident, the aircraft was cleared for the GIR1 departure from runway 13L, which required a right turn at the Romeo NDB to avoid high terrain. However, the crew maintained the runway heading. Weather conditions at the time included 7 km visibility with a broken ceiling of cumulonimbus clouds at 2,000 to 2,300 feet above the aerodrome, creating instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The investigation revealed that the First Officer, who was the pilot flying, failed to initiate the turn and also neglected to activate the transponder, which prevented air traffic control from identifying the navigational error on radar. The crew's focus on accelerating to 260 knots to optimize fuel efficiency likely contributed to a loss of situational awareness regarding their proximity to the 14,000-foot peaks east of the airport.
Final Conclusions
The Colombian Aerocivil concluded the primary cause was the crew's loss of situational awareness, leading to a failure to comply with the published GIR1 departure procedure. Contributing factors included the crew's focus on airspeed acceleration at the expense of navigation, the failure to activate the transponder which hindered ATC assistance, and inclement weather conditions including rain and low cloud ceilings that obscured the terrain.
Video Analysis
Air France Flight 422 Aftermath Footage | 20 April 1998 Bogotá — Archival news footage showing the crash site on Cerro el Cable and the recovery efforts following the 1998 CFIT accident.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Jaime Vasconez Zuñiga, 42 years old. Had 413 hours as Captain on type.
First Officer
Carlos Cadena Silva, 44 years old.
Flight Engineer
Luis Delgado Cherrez, 54 years old.
Systems & Failure Modes
Transponder
The crew failed to switch the transponder to 'ALT' or 'ON', preventing ATC from seeing the flight's position and altitude on radar.
Flight Data Recorder (FDR)
Data showed the aircraft followed a departure profile optimized for fuel efficiency rather than terrain clearance.
Standard Instrument Departure (SID)
The Girardot 1 (GIR1) procedure required a specific turn to avoid the 14,000-foot mountainous zone.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a Boeing 727-200 Advanced wet-leased by Air France from TAME Ecuador.
- 02The crash site was located on Cerro el Cable, approximately 10 kilometers east of the airport. While some sources (ASN) erroneously list the location as SW, the runway 13L departure path and the mountain's actual position confirm an easterly direction.
- 03The crew failed to turn on the aircraft's transponder after takeoff.
- 04The Captain had only 413 hours of experience as a commander on the Boeing 727.
- 05The impact occurred at an airspeed of 260 knots.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Departure Procedure Review
The investigation emphasized the critical nature of noise abatement turns in Bogotá that also serve as essential terrain avoidance maneuvers.