Atacazo
Atacazo viewed from the other side
Highest point
Elevation	4,463 m (14,642 ft)
Coordinates	0°21′10″S 78°37′01″W / 0.35278°S 78.61694°W / -0.35278; -78.61694
Geography
Atacazo Ecuador
Parent range	Andes
Geology
Mountain type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	320 BCE ± 16 years

Atacazo is a volcano of the Western Cordillera located 25 kilometers southwest of Quito, Ecuador. Atacazo is a stratovolcano formed by the action of a Late-Pleistocene to Holocene caldera.^[1] The last eruption of the Atacazo was nearly 2300 years ago.

Aerial tragedy

On November 7, 1960 a Fairchild F-27 turboprop passenger plane, operated by the now-defunct national airline AREA Ecuador, struck the Atacazo in bad weather during its approach to the newly-inaugurated Mariscal Sucre International Airport after a flight from Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Guayaquil.^[2][3] The crash, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of Quito and 150 meters to the summit of the Atacazo, killed all the 37 occupants of the plane.^[4] At the time, it was the worst aerial crash in the history of Ecuador, the first and worst fatal loss of an F-27 passenger plane, and the first accident involving the then-recently-opened Quito airport.^[5][6]

See also

• Lists of volcanoes
  • List of volcanoes in Ecuador

References