Air Flamenco

*Air Flamenco is an Air Charter airline based in Puerto Rico

*Callsign: Flamenco
*ICAO Code: WAF
*IATA Code: None

History

Air Flamenco traces its history to Flamenco Airways (ICAO Code: WAF), which was founded in 1976 by Mr. Rubén Torres. The first aircraft used was the Piper Cherokee 6 with flights between the islands of Culebra and Vieques. Six months after initial operation they acquired their first twin engine Britten-Norman Islander with a capacity of 9 passengers. With this new aircraft their service expanded with more passenger routes and US postal service between the two islands of Vieques and Culebra and the main island of Puerto Rico. Within the following five years, the airline increased its fleet to 6 aircraft expanding its services and charter flights throughout the Caribbean Islands including US and British Virgin Islands.

It is not clear when the name was changed to Air Flamenco, but the airline website states that Air Flamenco was founded in 1998. It is unclear if the first Flamenco closed down and was restarted or if it changed its name. Maybe someone can clear that. (The last update in the website is 11 Jul 05).

The airline is based at 4 locations: Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport better known as the Isla Grande Airport, San Juan; Diego Jiménez Torres Airport, Fajardo, Puerto Rico; Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport, Culebra; and Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport, Vieques. Current destinations are cities in Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands, and the Dominican Republic.

Fleet

*9 - Britten-Norman IslanderRegistrations are: N901GD, N903GD, N904GD, N905GD, N906GD, N907GD, N908GD, N909GD. (N902GD was written-off in an accident. See below).

Accidents

*Aircraft N902GD, Pilatus Britten-Norman BN-2A-27 Islander en route from Mayaguez to Isla Grande Airport, San Juan crashed. The airplane, transporting bank financial documents, departed Mayagüez at 18:30. En route the airplane approached and penetrated a level 4-5 rain shower. Control was lost and the plane crashed into the sea. There was one fatality. PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's improper inflight planning which resulted in an inflight encounter with weather (low ceilings and thunderstorms), his loss of aircraft control, and an inflight collision with the ocean during uncontrolled descent."

External links

* [http://airflamenco.net Official Site]
* [http://www.rsvpair.com/viewOperator/1753.html Air Charter Directory]
* [http://www.flightstats.com/go/Airline/airlineDetails.do?airlineCode=WAF Flight Stats Link]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20040929-0 Aviation Safety Net]