Aeronica
Encyclopedia
Aerolíneas Nicaragüenses, operating as Aeronica, was an airline
from Nicaragua
. Headquartered in the capital Managua
, it operated scheduled passenger flights within Central America, as well as to Mexico and the United States out of its hub
at the city's Augusto C. Sandino International Airport.
was in force, the airline was prevented from serving the important United States market. Also, Soviet
-bult aircraft were introduced into the Aeronica fleet, because spare parts for US-made ones could not be acquired. In the early 1990s, Aeronica came under economical pressure. In 1992, TACA acquired a 49 percent stake in the company, but without any effect: In the same year, the airline license
of Aeronica was revoked and the airline shut down.
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
United States
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
from Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. Headquartered in the capital Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
, it operated scheduled passenger flights within Central America, as well as to Mexico and the United States out of its hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
at the city's Augusto C. Sandino International Airport.
History
Aeronica was founded in 1981, as a consequence of the demise of Lanica in 1979. Between 1985 and 1990, when the United States embargo against NicaraguaUnited States embargo against Nicaragua
The United States embargo against Nicaragua was an embargo that prohibited all trade between the U.S. and Nicaragua. It was declared by then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan on May 1, 1985. Although the embargo was a very visible measure against Nicaragua, it did not have nearly as devastating an...
was in force, the airline was prevented from serving the important United States market. Also, Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-bult aircraft were introduced into the Aeronica fleet, because spare parts for US-made ones could not be acquired. In the early 1990s, Aeronica came under economical pressure. In 1992, TACA acquired a 49 percent stake in the company, but without any effect: In the same year, the airline license
Air Operator's Certificate
An air operator's certificate is the approval granted from a national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public...
of Aeronica was revoked and the airline shut down.
Destinations
During the 1980s, Aeronica offered scheduled international passenger flights to the following destinations:Costa Rica
- San JoséSan José, Costa RicaSan José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...
- Juan Santamaría International AirportJuan Santamaría International AirportJuan Santamaría International Airport is located in Alajuela Province, about from downtown San José, Costa Rica. It is a hub airport for TACA/Lacsa, and focus city airport for Copa Airlines. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856...
El Salvador
- San SalvadorSan SalvadorThe city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
- San Salvador AirportSan Salvador AirportSan Salvador Airport , also known as Cockburn Town Airport, is an airport in San Salvador, Bahamas.San Salvador International Airport is one of the few airports in the Bahamas that has Instrument rating landing for airplanes, and as a result aircraft can now land at ZSA after official sunset...
Guatemala
- Guatemala CityGuatemala CityGuatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
- La Aurora International AirportLa Aurora International AirportLa Aurora International Airport serves Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is located south of Guatemala City's center and from Antigua. It is administered by the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil....
Mexico
- Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
- Mexico City International AirportMexico City International AirportBenito Juárez International Airport , in Venustiano Carranza, one of the sixteen boroughs into which Mexico's Federal District is divided, is a commercial airport that serves Mexico City, the capital of Mexico...
Nicaragua
- ManaguaManaguaManagua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
- Augusto C. Sandino International Airport (hub)
Panama
- Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
- Tocumen International AirportTocumen International AirportTocumen International Airport is an international airport located from Panama City, Panama. In 2006, it underwent a major expansion and renovation program in order to modernize and improve its facilities...
United States
- Miami - Miami International AirportMiami International AirportMiami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
Fleet
Over the years of its existence, Aeronica operated the following aircraft types:| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired |
|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-26 Antonov An-26 The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the USSR from 12 March 1968.-Development:... |
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| Antonov An-32 Antonov An-32 The Antonov An-32 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft.-Design and development:The An-32 is basically a re-engined An-26. The launch customer was the Indian Air Force, which ordered this aircraft partly due to good relations between then USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and then... |
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| Boeing 707 Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
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| Boeing 720 Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is a four-engine narrow-body short- to medium-range passenger jet airliner. Developed by Boeing in the late 1950s from the Boeing 707, the 720 has a shorter fuselage and less range... |
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| Boeing 727 Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced... |
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| CASA C-212 Aviocar | ||
| Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando | ||
| Douglas DC-3 Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made... |
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| Douglas DC-6 Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range... |
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| Fokker F27 Friendship | ||
| Tupolev Tu-154 Tupolev Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid 1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. As the mainstay 'workhorse' of Soviet and Russian airlines for several decades, it serviced over a sixth of the world's landmass and carried half of all passengers flown... |
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Accidents and incidents
- On 12 December 1981, a bomb exploded inside the passenger cabin of a parked Aeronica Boeing 727Boeing 727The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
(registeredAircraft registrationAn aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
YN-BXW) at Mexico City International AirportMexico City International AirportBenito Juárez International Airport , in Venustiano Carranza, one of the sixteen boroughs into which Mexico's Federal District is divided, is a commercial airport that serves Mexico City, the capital of Mexico...
, tearing a hole into the fuselage. The captain, two flight attendants and a ground worker were injured. They had been on board the aircraft for pre-departure checks for a scheduled passenger flight to San SalvadorSan SalvadorThe city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
and onwards to ManaguaManaguaManagua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
. - On 10 May 1982, two hijackers demanded a Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando to leave its BluefieldsBluefieldsBluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...
-Big Corn IslandCorn IslandsThe Corn Islands are two islands about east off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, constituting one of 12 municipalities of the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur department...
route and land in Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
instead. The pilots obeyed and landed at LimónLimónPuerto Limón, commonly known as Limón , is the capital city and main hub of Limón province, as well as of the cantón of Limón in Costa Rica. It has a population of about 60,000 , and is home to a thriving Afro-Caribbean community...
, where the perpetrators surrendered. - On 29 June 1983, an Aeronica CASA C-212 Aviocar (registered YN-BYZ) was damaged beyond economical repair in a crash landing at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport, which happened because the copilot had accidentially applied reverse thrust rather than the flapsFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
immediately before landing. - On 20 April 1985, a problem was encountered with the additional fuel tanks that an Fokker F27 Friendship (registered YN-BZF) had been fitted with for the delivery flight to Aeronica from Europe to Nicaragua. The pilots decided to return to Kulusuk AirportKulusuk AirportKulusuk Airport is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :- Bottlenecks :...
in GreenlandGreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, the place of their most recent fuel stop, but failed to do so. The aircraft crashed on a snow-covered strip, killing two of the five occupants. - On 28 December 1987 at 14:36 local time, an Aeronica Douglas DC-6Douglas DC-6The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
lost its inner right engine whilst enroute a cargo flight from Managua to Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
. Debris had also damaged the outer right engine, forcing the pilots to execute a water landingWater landingA water landing is, in the broadest sense, any landing on a body of water. All waterfowl, those seabirds capable of flight, and some human-built vehicles are capable of landing in water as a matter of course....
in a river in Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, which all six persons on board survived. - The worst accident in the history of Aeronica happened on 26 May 1988, when another DC-6 (registered YN-CBE) crashed near Limón in Costa Rica, killing the six occupants.
- On 10 November 1991, an Aeronica Boeing 727 (registered YN-BXW, the same aircraft that had been damaged in a bomb explosion in 1981) was destroyed in a fire at Managua Airport, which had arisen from an ignited oxygenOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
leak during maintenance work.