Western aircraft operations during the Special Period

In spite of the hardships encountered during the 1990s, SACTA began supplementing its owned fleet of Soviet aircraft with leased Western planes from foreign airlines to sustain its scheduled services during this period, given the rapid growth of Cuba's tourism sector. A handful of ATR 42 and Fokker F27 aircraft were acquired from Spanish flag carrier Iberia for domestic operations, while international routes within the Americas would be served by longer-range Airbus A320 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft leased from TransAer International Airlines and AOM French Airlines, respectively. From 2001, Airbus A330 and Boeing 767 aircraft would be leased from various European carriers to support transatlantic services.

The crash of Flight 1216

One of SACTA's leased DC-10s (F-GTDI, pictured above) was involved in an accident at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala on 21 December 1999 when operating for Flight 1216, a special charter flight transporting Guatemalan students home from universities in Cuba. Eight passengers and eight crew members on board, plus two people on the ground, were killed in the crash, and another 57 people (37 occupants from the aircraft and 20 on the ground) were injured as well. The aircraft took off from José Martí International Airport in Cuba with 296 passengers and 18 crew on board, and after a two-hour flight the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 19 at La Aurora. While landing the pilots were unable to stop the aircraft and it ran off the end of the runway and down a slope, crashing into ten houses and sustaining extensive damage.

Notes:
Operated for Air Afrique as TU-TAL from 1973-02-00 until 1986-11-00.
Leased from Air Afrique to JAT Yugoslav Airlines from 1985-02-00 until 1986-11-00.
Sold to AOM French Airlines on 1996-01-00 and then leased to SACTA (date unknown).
Damaged beyond repair and written off on 1999-12-21 when aircraft overran runway on landing at GUA and crashed into nearby residential area.