On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating as Dominciana de Aviación Flight 603 enroute from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to San Juan, Puerto Rico crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff.

The crew declared an emergency, telling air traffic controllers that the right engine had flamed out, and requested to immediately return to the airport.

[5] Several famous passengers were among the dead, including: Immediately after the Santo Domingo crash, Dominicana suspended all operations.

The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from the Spanish airline Iberia.

The airline flew until 1995 when the government of Joaquín Balaguer forced it to suspend services indefinitely, officially ceasing all operations in 1999.