American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 159.
The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978.
The prototype completed its maiden flight on February 19, 1982 and it was FAA certified on December 21, 1982.
Eastern Air Lines placed the original 757-200 in commercial service on January 1, 1983.
A package freighter (PF) variant entered service in September 1987 and a combi model in September 1988.
The stretched 757-300 was launched in September 1996 and began service in March 1999.
After 1,050 had been built for 54 customers, production ended in October 2004, while Boeing offered the largest 737 NG variants as a successor.
The jetliner is powered by 36,60043,500 lbf (163193 kN) Rolls-Royce RB211 or Pratt & Whitney PW2000 underwing turbofan engines for a 255,000273,000 lb (116124 t) MTOW.
The 757 has a 2,000 sq ft (185 m2) supercritical wing for reduced aerodynamic drag and a conventional tail.
It keeps the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating and its two-crew glass cockpit has a common type rating with the concurrently designed 767 (a wide-body aircraft).
It was produced in two fuselage lengths: the 155 ft (47.3 m) long 757-200 (the most popular with 913 built) typically seats 200 passengers in two classes over 3,915 nmi / 7,250 km; while the 178 ft (54.4 m) long 757-300 typically seats 243 over 3,400 nmi (6,295 km).
The 757-200F can haul a 72,210 lb (32,755 kg) payload over 2,935 nmi (5,435 km).
Passenger 757-200s have been modified for cargo use as the Special Freighter (SF) and the Precision Converted Freighter (PCF).
Major customers for the 757 included U.S. mainline carriers, European charter airlines, and cargo companies.
It was commonly used for short and mid-range domestic routes, shuttle services, and transcontinental U.S. flights.
ETOPS extended flights were approved in 1986 to fly intercontinental routes.
Private and government operators have customized the 757 as VIP carriers such as the US C-32.
In July 2017, there were 665 Boeing 757 in commercial service, with Delta Air Lines being the largest operator with 127 airplanes in its fleet.
The airliner has recorded twelve hull-loss accidents, including eight fatal crashes, as of April 2022.
American Airlines Flight 965 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On December 20, 1995, the Boeing 757-200 flying this route (registration N651AA) crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, killing 151 of the 155 passengers and all eight crew members.The crash was the first U.S.-owned 757 accident and is currently the deadliest aviation accident to occur in Colombia. It was also the deadliest accident involving a Boeing 757 at that time, but was surpassed by Birgenair Flight 301 which crashed seven weeks later with 189 fatalities. Flight 965 was the deadliest air disaster involving a U.S. carrier since the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.The Colombian Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics investigated the accident and determined it was caused by navigational errors by the flight crew.