Thursday, July 11, 2013

HISTORICAL PHOTO: Orion Aviacion Let L-410, LV-WYV

Orion Aviacion Let L-410, LV-WYV, c/n 912603, at Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) presumably sometime during 1997/98.  (Phil Perry collection)

This Czech-built small airliner is a workhorse of a plane that is much more common inside the former Soviet bloc than outside.  The pictured example is perhaps the only L-410 to ever have appeared on the Argentine register.  

LV-WYV was originally delivered to Aeroflot in 1991 as CCCP-67673 and after several years it passed on to Orion Aviacion of Argentina.  Orion operated the aircraft during 1997/98 between Concepcion del Uruguay (CDU) and Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) on a twice-daily schedule in both directions with morning and evening departures timed to suit business travelers seeking to do a day trip without overnights in either city.  The concept was sound over the nearly 200-mile route but the service lasted only a short time.  

This aircraft went on to fly for a couple more carriers but it ended its flying career in a crash while operating for Central American Airways of Honduras as HR-AUQ.  It crashed near Cerro de Hula while flying from San Pedro Sula (SAP) to Tegucigalpa (TGU) with the loss of all 14 people on board.  Cause of the crash was undetermined.          

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