West Caribbean Airways
Encyclopedia
West Caribbean Airways S.A. (WCA) was an airline
with its headquarters in Hangar 73 on the grounds of Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín
, Colombia
. Because of financial problems following two crashes in 2005 (see below) it ceased operations that September.
. A group of Medellín-based investors acquired the airline in 2001 and moved the headquarters to Medellín.
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...
with its headquarters in Hangar 73 on the grounds of Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Because of financial problems following two crashes in 2005 (see below) it ceased operations that September.
History
West Caribbean Airways was founded on December 29, 1998. West Caribbean Airways was founded by Colombian entrepreneur Hassan Tannir and started operations in 2000 based in San Andrés IslandSan Andrés (island)
San Andrés is a coral island among the Colombian islands in the Caribbean Sea; it is the largest island of the southern group of islands. Together with the nearby island of Providencia and some smaller islands of the southern group of the Colombian archipelago, San Andrés forms the department of...
. A group of Medellín-based investors acquired the airline in 2001 and moved the headquarters to Medellín.
Incidents and accidents
- 26 March 2005. A West Caribbean Airways Let L-410 Turbolet aircraft registration HK-4146, on departure from El Embrujo, Isla de Providencia failed to climb and hits hills close to the runwayRunwayAccording to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
, killing the two crew and six of the twelve passengers. Initial reports suggested a technical fault.
- 16 August 2005. West Caribbean Airways Flight 708West Caribbean Airways Flight 708West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a West Caribbean Airways charter flight which crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela on the morning of Tuesday, 16 August 2005, killing all 152 passengers and eight crew....
, a chartered West Caribbean Airways McDonnell DouglasMcDonnell DouglasMcDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
MD-82 aircraft heading from PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
to MartiniqueMartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in the CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, crashed in remote western VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, killing all 160 aboard, mostly French nationals.
Services
West Caribbean Airways operated the following services (at January 2005):- Domestic scheduled destinations: ArmeniaArmenia, ColombiaArmenia is the capital of Quindío, a department in Colombia. The city is located at coordinates 4.5170° north, 75.6830° west, 290 kilometers west of Bogotá. Armenia is a mid-size city located between Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, the 3 largest Colombian cities. The city's area code for phone calls is...
, BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, CaliCalìCalì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
, CartagenaCartagena, ColombiaCartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
, CaucasiaCaucasia, AntioquiaCaucasia is a municipality located in the subregion of Bajo Cauca Antioquia department, in Colombia. Bounded on the north by the department of Córdoba, in the east by the municipalities of Antioquia in Nechí and El Bagre, on the south by the municipality of Zaragoza, and west to the town of...
, ChigorodóChigorodóChigorodó is a municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia....
, CúcutaCúcutaCúcuta is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander, in the northeast of the country. Due to its proximity to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. The city has the constitutional category of Special District. It is located at the most active...
, El BagreEl BagreEl Bagre is a municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia....
, MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, MonteríaMonteríaMontería is a municipality and city located in Northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean, by the Sinú River. The city and region are famous for their distinct cultural heritages, which include a blend of indigenous Zenú Indians,...
, OtuOtuOtu or OTU may refer to:*Otu, Siga, Japan*Otú Airport, an airport in the village of Otú and serving the town of Remedios, Colombia*Operational taxonomic unit*Operational Training Unit...
, ProvidenciaProvidenciaProvidencia may refer to:* Providencia, Chile* Providencia District in Amazonas, Peru* Providencia Island, part of the San Andrés y Providencia Department district of Colombia in the Caribbean sea...
, Puerto BerríoPuerto BerríoPuerto Berrío is a municipality and town in the Colombian department of Antioquia.-Geography:Puerto Berrío is located in a region of Antioquia known as the Middle Magdalena...
, QuibdóQuibdóQuibdó is the capital city of Chocó Department, in western Colombia. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 100,000 mainly consisting of Afro Colombians and Zambo Colombians. Quibdo serves a a receptor for those persons affected by the Colombian armed...
, San Andrés, TolúTolúTolú is a small town and municipality in Sucre Department, northern Colombia by the Caribbean sea. The municipality has an area of 500 km². The name of Tolú comes from a tree called the Balsam of Tolú....
and TurboTurbo, ColombiaTurbo is a port town in Antioquia Department, Colombia. It is located at around . It is located on the coast of Gulf of Urabá, 340 km. north from Medellín...
.
- International scheduled destinations: OranjestadOranjestad, ArubaOranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...
, 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...
, 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...
and PorlamarPorlamarPorlamar is the largest city on Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta State in Venezuela. It was founded on the southeast coast in 1536, less than 40 years after Christopher Columbus first sailed through. Porlamar was a quiet fishing village until the arrival of air travel...
.
Fleet
The West Caribbean Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at January 2005):- 1 ATR 42ATR 42-Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type....
-300 - 3 ATR 42-320
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-81
- 3 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (one crashed in VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) - 8 Let L-410 UVP-E (one crashed in Colombia)