Iberia Flight 610

On 19 February 1985, a Boeing 727-200 operating the flight crashed into a ravine after one of its wings sliced a television antenna on the summit of Mount Oiz in Biscay during an approach to Bilbao Airport.Notable passengers include then-incumbent Bolivian Labor Minister Gonzalo Guzman Eguez, who was travelling to Spain to hold talks with authorities on the construction of La Paz - El Alto railway, and former Spanish Foreign Minister under Franco's regime, Gregorio López-Bravo.Spanish newspaper El Pais described Patiño as an aristocratic pilot after it was discovered that he was the cousin of the Marquises of Villanueva de las Torres, the Counts of Sástago, and the Barons of Bétera.However, on that particular day, Captain Patiño gestured to First Officer Lopez to decline the offer, apparently as a sign of protest to Iberia's management.The crew reported on the VOR passage of Bilbao at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,100 m), reaching the starting point of the final approach.The crew then commanded the autopilot to increase the rate of descent to 1,500 ft in order to quickly reach the intended altitude.After informing emergency services about the accident, personnel began to be deployed to the area, with the Spanish Civil Guard being the first to arrive.An emergency meeting chaired by then Basque Government Interior Minister Luis Maria Retolaza was later convened at a local hamlet.The president of Iberia, Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, however, asked relatives to return home, as their presence to identify their loved ones was "hardly useful".[6] During the search and rescue operation, Spanish authorities warned that some corpses may not be able to be identified due to the destructive nature of the crash.[13] It was reported that a total of 7 bodies could not be identified due to the severity of the impact and therefore had to be buried at a mass grave in Bilbao's Derio cemetery.The event was attended by Queen Sofia, Transport Minister Enrique Barón, other members of the Spanish royal house, and high-ranking government officials.Bishop of Bilbao, Luis María Larrea, described the crash as "a bloody involuntary catastrophe that is remembered in the entire history of the Basque Country".The Madrid court later rewarded the family with 10 million pesetas in compensation from both media, which would later be challenged in an appeal by El País.[18] Months after the disaster, then-President of Iberia and Aviaco Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros resigned from his position following pressures from the National Institute of Industry regarding a report on Captain Patiño's training course.Conservative opposition Grupo Popular accused the Ministry of Transport of not being able to maintain a high level of security in the country's aviation sector.The crew would have needed to maintain their altitude at a minimum of 7,000 ft until they reached the airport's VOR, located on the west side of the aerodrome.However, he changed his mind after Captain Patiño, according to the investigation, made some kind of sign or gesture to refuse it and take the former option instead.First Officer López suddenly entered a rate of descent input of 1,500 ft while the aircraft was descending through 5,600 ft. As the travel distance for the standard approach was much longer than the shortcut approach, the crew had enough time to slowly adjust their altitude, and the aircraft didn't need such a high rate of descent.As First Officer López, who was in control, thought that there were still 900 feet left to reach their target altitude, the aircraft continued to descend further.However, several studies showed that the use of such an altimeter increased the risk of misinterpretation since it was hard for pilots to read the small window for the different altitudes in thousands and hundreds.This was further corroborated by findings obtained from simulation flights and interviews that had been conducted by investigators, in which pilots had only glanced a little and eventually became uncertain of their aircraft's actual altitude.Other than the callout, the investigation also found several other deficiencies regarding the conduct of Captain Patiño that might have contributed to the cause of the crash.[2] Investigators were able to identify several other deficiencies in the crash, including the construction of a TV tower on Mount Oiz and the incomplete approach chart.[2] According to the investigation, the crew distrusted the autopilot during the descent phase, but it is likely that they forgot to turn on the ALT SEL (altitude select) button, accidentally disengaged it, or the system itself malfunctioned.[9] Investigators determined the cause of the crash was pilot error due to the flight crew misinterpreting data and flying the aircraft below the safety altitude.The accident report stated: "Their [i.e. the pilots'] confidence on the automatic capture performed by the Altitude Alert System, the misinterpretation of its warnings, as well as a probable misreading of the altimeter made the crew fly below the safety altitude, colliding into the television antennas' base, thus losing the left wing, falling to the ground with no possible control of the aircraft."The crash led IAIAC to issue an order for every airliners in Spain to replace every drum and needle altimeter to avoid future accidents.[21] The family of Captain Patiño also refused to accept the official conclusion of the final report and insisted that the aircraft had been attacked by Basque separatist ETA.[22] In 2021, International Federation of Associations of Air Accident Victims and the Official College of Commercial Aviation Pilots (Copac) appealed to Spanish authorities to clear the crash site from any remaining wreckage and personal belongings after an accidental discovery of several human remains within the crash site.