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Associated Press

An Aeromexico jetliner taking off in a blustery storm smashed down into a nearby field but skidded to a stop virtually intact, and all 103 people aboard were able to escape advancing flames before fire engulfed the aircraft.
Passengers expressed gratitude to be alive, but many were extremely shaken after the crash Tuesday afternoon.
“It was really, really ugly,” said Lorenzo Nunez, a passenger from Chicago who fled the plane with his two sons and wife.
“It burned in a question of seconds,” he told reporters, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
Survivors said the Embraer 190 plane burst into flames right after it hit the ground.
“We felt the flames coming quickly … there was a lot of smoke,” Jaquelin Flores told the newspaper El Sol.
Romulo Campuzano, head of a political party in Durango state who was on the plane, told Foro TV that both wings were on fire as he bolted from the aircraft.


Durango state Governor Jose Aispuro said a gust of wind hit flight AM2431 heading from the city of Durango to Mexico City just as it was lifting off the tarmac, forcing the pilot to abort take-off.
Passengers said they heard a loud noise as the plane’s left wing banged to the ground, and both engines tore loose. The plane stayed upright, though, and the escape slides activated.
Aispuro said it was too soon to speculate on the cause of the crash. Mechanical failure and human error could be factors, but certainly the weather wasn’t favourable.
Strong wind and heavy rain with marble-sized hail lashed Durango city, even damaging hangars at the airport.
“The most important thing in the seriousness that is an accident of this nature is that there were no deaths – that’s what is most encouraging for us,” Aispuro said.

After the accident, several passengers walked away from the plane before first responders arrived. Some sought medical help, while others rushed home to loved ones. Officials spent much of the afternoon tracking down survivors to ensure that everyone was accounted for.
Officials said 49 people were hospitalised – most with minor injuries. The pilot suffered the most serious injury, a cervical lesion that required surgery.
Some people had burns on a quarter of their bodies, said Durango state Health Ministry spokesman Fernando Ros.
Aispuro said all were expected to live.

Aeromexico Chief Executive Officer Andres Conesa described the day as “very difficult” and credited the timely reaction of crew and passengers for the lack of fatalities.
“Our heart is with those affected and their families,” he said.
Conesa said the passengers included 88 adults, nine children and two babies and the crew consisted of two flight attendants and two pilots.
He said the jetliner had been sent for maintenance in February and the crew was well-rested, having started their work day in Durango.
The web site Planespotters.net said the Brazilian-made medium-range jet was about 10 years old and had seen service with two other airlines before joining the Aeromexico fleet.
Operations were suspended at Durango city’s Guadalupe Victoria airport after the crash.
Aeromexico has not had any fatal crashes in the past 10 years.
A Mexican pilots association said last year there were 66 accidents and 173 incidents in Mexican aviation, saying the number was “worrying” and calling for more supervision of flying schools, more funds for maintenance and oversight of fleets, and shorter flying hours for pilots.
The Embraer 190 was involved in one fatal crash when a Henan Airlines flight overshot a Chinese runway in 2010 and another in Africa in 2013 when a LAM Airlines pilot deliberately crashed the plane during a hostage-taking incident, according to a summary by the Aviation Safety Network.
Embraer has delivered more than 1,400 E-Jets.
Embraer said it had sent a team of technicians to the scene of the accident and stood ready to support the investigation.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Aviation

Jetliner crashes just after take-off in Mexico, some passengers walk from wreck

Smoke billows above an Aeromexico-operated Embraer passenger jet that crashed in Mexico's northern state of Durango, on Tuesday. Photo: Contacto Hoy / Reuters

Picture showing the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 97 passengers and four crew on board on take off at the airport of Durango, in northern Mexico, on July 31, 2018. Dozens of people were injured as an airliner crashed on takeoff during a heavy hail storm in northern Mexico, engulfing the plane in flames, Aeromexico airline and passengers said Tuesday. / AFP PHOTO / KEVIN ALCANTAR DRONES DURANGO / Kevin ALCANTAR

FILE PHOTO: An aeroplane of Aeromexico Connect, regional operator of Mexico's largest airline Aeromexico, is pictured at the airstrip at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, Mexico, November 28, 2017. The plane pictured is the Aeromexico-operated Embraer passenger jet that crashed just after takeoff in Mexico's state of Durango on July 31, 2018. REUTERS/Ginnette Riquelme/File Photo

‘Wet leased’ Boeing jet in worst Cuba plane crash since 1989 had safety complaints

The aircraft was ‘wet leased’ to Cuba’s state airline by a Mexican company that also supplied crew, flight attendants, a maintenance technician, as well as the insurance

The aircraft that crashed in Cuba Friday, May 18 was a Boeing 737-200 leased to Cuba’s state airline Cubana de Aviacion by Mexican company Global Air, also known as Aerolineas Damojh. It was a “wet lease,” meaning Global Air supplied the plane, its crew of two pilots, three flight attendants and a maintenance technician, as well as the insurance.

People watch as smoke rises from the site where a plane crashed shortly after taking off from Havana, Cuba, May 18, 2018, in this photo in obtained from social media. MANDATORY CREDIT. Scott Paton/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES MANDATORY CREDIT.

Police and military personnel at the scene of the crash. Photo: EPA

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The flight was taking off from Durango, bound for Mexico City, when it went down with 103 people aboard


The flight was taking off from Durango, bound for Mexico City, when it went down with 103 people aboard.
