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By: - 22nd February 2008 at 07:58 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The plane is an ATR-42.:(
By: - 22nd February 2008 at 11:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Good luck to those involved in the search. I must say that when I read about this today the first thing that sprung to mind was the infamous 1972 crash in the Andes of the Fokker/Fairchild F27 carrying 46 rugby players and family.
Hopefully there are numerous survivors this time and that they don't have to resort to the same desperate measures as before...
By: - 22nd February 2008 at 16:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
'A twin-prop passenger plane slammed into a mountain face shortly after taking off from a popular tourist spot in Venezuela's rugged Andes region overnight, killing all 46 people on board, officials said Friday.
The ATR-42 aircraft, owned Santa Barabara Airlines, a Venezuelan company, was "practically pulverized" on impact.'
Its very sad news indeed. At GSM we leased one of our 767-300s to SB to operate flights for them. We also had the chance to fly with some SB crew, who were trained on the ATR.
All prayers and thoughts are with the families of the passengers and crew.
:( :( :(
By: - 22nd February 2008 at 17:03 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
No survivors then.... very sad. :(
By: - 22nd February 2008 at 17:10 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
No, affraid not, they found the wreckage about 2 hours ago. :(
By: - 22nd February 2008 at 23:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Good video of Merida and surrounding countryside possibly taken from an ATR.42.:(
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 00:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Merida lies in the upper side of the Andes. When I was around the area some years ago, I was surprised about the wildness of the area, and the orography. Also I realized that the weather was rough, changable and quite alpine with frecuent fogs, peaks surrounded by clouds, and lack of visibility.
We got into Merida on a 4X4 vehicle and I remembered the airport, and how the planes had to land in the middle of high peaks. It was not Bhutan or San Martin de los Andes, or even Cuzco, but pretty nasty.
The only visible thing is a huge and moving image of the Virgin Mary on top of high mountain which dominates everything. That´s to say, I wonder why there wasn´t any crash before in the area. Quite hard.
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 02:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
All forty six souls onboard lost..RIP!!
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 12:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Got more information from my friends at SB. It appears the ATR chief pilot/trainer on the ATR was the captain of the flight.
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 15:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Very sad news. Does anyone have any info on the a/c involved. Quite a few ex UK machines went down to that part of the world a few years ago.
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 15:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The plane was registered YV1449.
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 16:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thanks Newforest. Seems these were not ex UK machines. Some research shows I was thinking of BXEG & H which appear to have gone to Brazil.
By: - 23rd February 2008 at 16:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
You are right. My internet is slow today, c/n was 028 and previously registered N422MQ, CU-T1452 and PR-TTC. It was delivered to the airline on 19/10/05. Interestingly, it doesn't appear on the airlines fleet list that I have.
Posts: 12,842
By: steve rowell - 22nd February 2008 at 03:42
A Venezuelan commercial plane carrying up to 46 people went missing in the west of the South American nation on Thursday soon after taking off, Venezuelan authorities said.
Local media said the plane crashed in the Andean mountain state of Merida. The state capital, also named Merida, is 680 km (422 miles) southwest of Caracas.
Gladys Herrera of the Venezuelan aviation authority, INAC, said in a phone interview the agency could not confirm the plane had crashed but that it had registered the aircraft as missing while it was flying in the state of Merida.
Local television station Globovision said the Santa Barbara plane was heading from the mountain city of Merida to the main airport outside the capital Caracas.
A civilian defense official Noel Marquez told the station that rescue teams would have to search for the plane in daylight on Friday because the rugged terrain in the region made it too difficult to try on Thursday night.
The plane took off from Merida airport before dusk but soon lost contact with air traffic controllers, an airport official said.
(Reuters)