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Total fatalities 73
Aircraft
Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10
Aircraft name Night Owl
Operator Western Airlines
IATA flight No. WA2605
ICAO flight No. WAL2605
Call sign WESTERN 2605
Registration N903WA
Flight origin Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles, California, United States
Destination Mexico City International Airport
Mexico City, Mexico
Occupants 88
Passengers 75
Crew 13
Fatalities 72
Injuries 16
Survivors 16
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities 1
Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl",[1] was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California to Mexico City, Mexico. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST (UTC−06:00), the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog after landing on a runway that was closed for maintenance. Of the 88 occupants on board, 72 were killed, in addition to a maintenance worker who died when the plane struck his vehicle.[2]

Flight 2605 is Mexico City's deadliest aviation accident and the third-deadliest on Mexican soil after the crashes of two Boeing 727s: the 1969 crash of Mexicana de Aviación Flight 704 and that of Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940 in 1986.