Jet with 152 passengers crashes in Venezuela

j1232 · Post by **j1232** » 16 Aug 2005, 13:52

CARACAS, Venezuela - A commercial jet with 152 passengers aboard has crashed in western Venezuela, an aviation official said Tuesday.

Col. Antonio Rivero told local television that the authorities had lost contact with the aircraft around 4 a.m. local time and that there had been reports of an explosion in a remote area near the Colombian border.

Venezuelan authorities said they had started searching for the plane, which was traveling from Panama.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8969749

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:00

CNN:

Pilot reported trouble with both engines

West Caribbean Airways

Panama-Martinique

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/ameri ... index.html

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:21

Again

I'm loosing counting on one hand.

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:22

I assume the plane in question is an MD82 or MD81

what a terrible month for aviation

My thought's are with the families of the victims

Chris

L-1011 · Post by **L-1011** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:29

My guess is that this is an unfortunate series of events.
My condolences to the relatives of all the victims. I hope there will be positive news.

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:39

CNN reports say there were low clouds and weather conditions were quite tough.
the plane is thaught to be an MD82 carrying mainly tourists
website of the airline

(spanish)http://www.wca.com.co/

Sterre · Post by **Sterre** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:45

Oh no, not another one!
As a stewardess I am shocked by the wave of crashes setting its path around the world these days! Soon I 'll be scared to go to work!
(Although chances are still bigger I die on my way to work in a car accident then on an a/c during work...)

For those who have lost their lives in the last few crashes, I hope at that final point of inevitable death, for them minutes didn't seem to last for hours, seconds didn't seem to last forever (and that the children had their parents close to them)

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:52

An offical from the aviation authority of Panama has just been interviewed by phone on CNN.

These are the facts he told:

- The MD80 was flying with 151 pax on board and 5 crew members

- When the plane came into the airspace of Venezuela the pilot reported problems with BOTH engines and requested to descend to FL140 (they were cruising at FL310)

- Then the plane was lost ....

ON a side note, the quy also told the usual stuff they always say such as, the maintenance is always at it's best so he would rule out a mechanical failure and the MD80 is a fairly new plane !!! Yeah right.

Anyway I don't know if all the things he mentioned are correct but it's better than nothing

Chris

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 14:56

the MD 81-82 was aquired in 2004 by the airline and there have been problems before with the airline and it has been having terchnical and finacial difficulties since the airlines startup in 1998.

CNN also reports that the aircraft exploded in the air and is scattered over a large area and it looks like this incident there appear to be no survivors

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:01

apperently 30mins after the aircraft took off the pilot communicated with the tower saying there was a problem with one of the engines and requested permision for an emergency landing at Caracas near the capitol of Venezuela
2mins before the explosion the pilot reported another engine malfunction.

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:17

Venezuelan Regional Police reached the site of the Aircraft remains and are currnetly investigating the crash site.

A reporter is at the site and is a few meters from the wreckage and there are currently no survivors in the area.

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:27

Camera people live in venezuela on CNN!

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:41

No survivors, bodies are being removed by Colombian and Venezuelan Rescue Teams.

L-1011 · Post by **L-1011** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:45

wow, another sad day in aviation...

I wonder what could lead to a conclusion of a mid air explosion so quickly. If there was engine trouble he most probably would have smashed onto the ground, which would result ia a debris field also....

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:52

Just confirmed that all passengers and crew are dead my thoughts are with the families of the dead

CXRules · Post by **CXRules** » 16 Aug 2005, 15:58

http://www.flightinternational.com/Arti ... order.html

heathrow · Post by **heathrow** » 16 Aug 2005, 16:25

I am really dreading going home. When is this going to stop? YYZ, ATH, now this?

Harry-Spotter · Post by **Harry-Spotter** » 16 Aug 2005, 16:51

I am really dreading going home. When is this going to stop? YYZ, ATH, now this?

Well I don't think you should be scared to fly, I mean there are hundreds of car accidents every day and I m sure you still use your car. It s just that when an airplane crashes it s one hundred or more casualties in one time. Believe me, the roads are much more deadly. Just a bad series but it has to stop.

regi · Post by **regi** » 16 Aug 2005, 17:29

Don't forget the helicopter with 17 Spanish Nato soldiers on board that crashed in Herat, Afghanistan, today.

HorsePower · Post by **HorsePower** » 16 Aug 2005, 17:30

It's time for aviation to be safer...

RIP

Seb.