Mexicana de Aviación Flight 801

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Mexicana de Aviación Flight 801 was a scheduled international flight from Chicago O’Hare to Mexico City. On September 21, 1969, the Boeing 727-100 crashed during its final approach to Mexico City, killing 27 of the 118 people on board and leaving 91 survivors.

The aircraft was a 1966 Boeing 727-100 named Azteca de Oro, registered XA-SEJ, powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B engines. The crew included Captain Roberto Urías and two officers, Luis Franco Espinosa and Luis Guillot. There were 111 passengers and 7 crew members.

Investigators later said the airplane was not airworthy: the Flight Data Recorder had been improperly installed two days earlier, and the Cockpit Voice Recorder had been removed and not replaced.

The flight was cleared for an instrument landing on Runway 23L. The plane was in landing configuration with the landing gear down, flaps at 30 degrees, and slats extended. At about 5:45 p.m., the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and struck the ground about 1,500 meters from the runway threshold. It broke apart and slid into a swamp, with the front section ending up about 300 meters away from the main wreckage. The crash did not start a fire, but some passengers were sucked out as the fuselage broke apart and an engine detached.

Rescue was difficult because of mud and water in the swamp. Locals used boats to reach the site, and many people were trapped for hours before being rescued. The President ordered medical aid for the injured, and guards were sent to prevent looting around the crash site.

All three pilots and five flight attendants died. Captain Urías was reportedly alive in the cockpit immediately after the crash. Fifty-three people were hospitalized, with five seriously injured. A 35-year-old American was treated after others moved the plane’s wing to free him.

Among the survivors was Graciela Flores, a flight attendant who had previously survived this crash but later died in another Mexicana crash in 1986 (Flight 940) with her family aboard.