An interesting read for the Spanish speakers out there...

La Prensa Grafica in El Salvador has published a special report about the accident of Aviateca flight 901. This a/c, a B737-2H6, crashed near San Salvador on August 9, 1995, just before completing the second leg of its 'milk run' MIA-GUA-SAL-MGA-SJO.

http://www.laprensagrafica.com/especiales/2006/aviateca/default.asp

The voice recordings point out there was a lack of proper communication between the pilot and the tower, which might have led to the accident. Specifically, the tower advised the pilot to turn "left" in the understanding that he would take the south route; however, the pilot's "left" was actually to the north, thus he diverted from the intended course. When the "whoop whoop" warning sounded, he tried to gain altitude again, but it was too late by then...

The other black box containing the flight information was never found.

Here is some more info about the accident in English: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19950809-1&lang=en

I would be interested to know whether any of you remember this accident, and can add more information about it. Even though GU became part of Grupo Taca a short time later, the memory is still alive among the employees, especially the ones with more seniority. I had a supervisor at reservations, who remembered exactly what she was doing that night, and the conversation she had with a flight attendant before the f/a boarded this flight...

Also, how common are these errors in ATC-pilot communication? Particularly errors like in this case, where the exact location of the airplane was unclear to both the pilot and ATC.

Saludos,
Carmen