Atacazo

Atacazo is a volcano of the Western Cordillera located 25 kilometers southwest of Quito, Ecuador. Atacazo is a stratovolcano formed by the action of a Late-Pleistocene to Holocene caldera.[1] The last eruption of the Atacazo was nearly 2300 years ago.

Atacazo
Atacazo viewed from the other side
Highest point
Elevation4,463 m (14,642 ft)
Coordinates0°21′10″S 78°37′01″W
Geography
Atacazo is located in Ecuador
Atacazo
Atacazo
Parent rangeAndes
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruption320 BCE ± 16 years

Aerial tragedy

On November 7, 1960 a Fairchild F-27 turboprop passenger plane, operated by the now-defunct national airline AREA Ecuador, struck the Atacazo in bad weather during its approach to the newly-inaugurated Mariscal Sucre International Airport after a flight from Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Guayaquil.[2][3] The crash, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of Quito and 150 meters to the summit of the Atacazo, killed all the 37 occupants of the plane.[4] At the time, it was the worst aerial crash in the history of Ecuador, the first and worst fatal loss of an F-27 passenger plane, and the first accident involving the then-recently-opened Quito airport.[5][6]

See also

References


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