Bad news- West Caribbean

toneloc24 says on Aug 16, 2005, 08:46:

Wasn't it West Carribean Air that also had a plane crash in San Andres or Providencia recently (6 months or so)?

"Don't tase me, bro!!!!"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Miguel says on Aug 16, 2005, 08:50:

Si Señor It was Providencia, and the CNN article references that. The passengers on today's flight were mostly from Martinique and the crew of 8 were colombianos.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

toneloc24 says on Aug 16, 2005, 09:17:

I finally read the article. Have been seeing the headline. Was being lazy.

Well, scratch them off my list for cheap travel. 2 downed planes in 6 months???

Here's the article for other lazy folks to read.

Venezuela Plane Passengers Feared Dead
By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago

CARACAS, Venezuela - A plane carrying vacationers from the French Caribbean island of Martinique crashed Tuesday in western Venezuela after reporting engine trouble, and at least 160 people aboard were feared dead.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was en route from Panama to Martinique when its pilot reported trouble with both engines to Caracas' air control tower at around 3 a.m., said Francisco Paz, president of the National Aviation Institute.

Airport authorities lost radio contact with the West Caribbean Airways plane roughly 10 minutes later in the area of Machiques, near the border with Colombia some 400 miles west of Caracas, he said.

Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said military helicopters and planes flying over the area indicated "it's very unlikely there could be survivors."

The French civil aviation authority said all 153 passengers aboard were French citizens from Martinique and that all died in the crash.

The airline, in a statement from Colombia, said 152 passengers, including an infant, and eight Colombian crew members were on the plane. The discrepancy in numbers could not immediately be resolved.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed his "strong emotion" as he learned of the "appalling catastrophe" and offered condolences to families of victims "in the name of all French."

He sent Overseas Minister Francois Baroin to Martinique and ordered a crisis center opened at the Foreign Ministry. The United States sent four investigators to Venezuela to help.

German Bracho, director of civil protection for Zulia state where the plane went down, told The Associated Press that the passengers were tourists from Martinique returning home after a vacation in Panama.

The airline said the pilot reported an emergency 20 miles from the Colombia-Venezuela border. Authorities said the plane requested permission to attempt an emergency landing at the nearby airport in Maracaibo, Venezuela, but never made it.

It went down in a wooded area between two farms, Bracho said.

"Residents in the area said they heard an explosion," Paz said.

West Caribbean Airways, a Colombian airline, began service in 1998. In March, a twin-engine plane it operated crashed during takeoff from the Colombian island of Old Providence, killing eight people and injuring the other six passengers.

Two other airplane crashes in Venezuela in the past year both involved military planes. In December, a military plane crashed in a mountainous area near Caracas, killing all 16 people on board. In August 2004, a military plane crashed into a mountain in central Venezuela, killing 25 people.

Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 16, 2005, 09:32:

Very sad What a tragedy

Count me off the West Caribe list, too. The Providencia plane lost an engine on takeoff. This one seems to have had engine trouble in two engines. Can anyone say "faulty maintainance"?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juanalejo says on Aug 16, 2005, 10:04:

West I agree with you Mr H, not the best of airlines, it had been grounded in June by Colombian Civil Authorities because they would not comply with regulations. So there you go, feel bad for the employees.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Neonovo says on Aug 16, 2005, 11:35:

Providencia photo of type of plane that crashed (on same runway) In Feb 2005, I flew WC from Bogotá to Medellín, then on to San Andrés and back; 4 flights in all. In this album, I'm in front of same model of plane that crashed in Providencia, on take off from same runway.
The nevado del Ruiz shot was taken from one of their jetliners. I don't think I'll fly 'em again.
Paz,
Neonovo

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Blue says on Aug 16, 2005, 12:14:

So much for saving a few bucks by flying with this airline. Was maybe going to use them in Colombia for intra-country travel. The smaller, regional and relatively new airlines usually pose a greater flying risk. You have to wonder as well about many U.S. airlines as they get in line at the bankruptcy courts. Pinched for resources, I wonder what kinds of shortcuts they may be tempted to make with maintenance and safety. Many things slip through the cracks and many of the safety requirements are based on an honor system.

Blue

0 funny, 0 helpful.

morphus says on Aug 16, 2005, 13:32:

a plane crashed in Greece last week too. it seems like planes crash one after the other in threes. then no crashes for a long time. i wonder who will be next?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

quindioman says on Aug 16, 2005, 13:34:

morphus that's 3 if you count the mishap in the canadian airport

0 funny, 0 helpful.

morphus says on Aug 16, 2005, 18:22:

oh yeah, the plane crash in Canada. nobody died but it was still a crash. hopefully, thats it for a long time. plane crashes suck.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Brian858 says on Aug 16, 2005, 18:37:

West Carribean Air I didn't feel very comfortable flying WC air after I saw one of their plane parked off the runway in Providencia:

http://public.fotki.com/Nacira/colombia_82004/san_andres__provide/colombia2004_086.html

Here is a pic of the one that crashed ~ 6 months ago:

http://public.fotki.com/Nacira/colombia_82004/san_andres__provide/colombia2004_006.html

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on Aug 16, 2005, 21:54:

A BA plane overshot the runway in Germany Similar to the Canadian incident, except that there was no ravine, so no crash.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Aug 17, 2005, 08:50:

I still say American Airlines is dangerous. I´m convinced that flight 582 went down due to bad maintanence. AA also has the oldest fleet in existence. I have had big problems twice with them before, flights being delayed due to mechanical problems.

On the other hand, I love flying Avianca :)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

crispeta says on Aug 25, 2005, 09:42:

AA is safer than Avianca AA has a younger fleet than Aviaca, and a better saftey record.Aviaca buys and leases used airplanes, AA does not. Did you forget about the Aviaca flight that crased because it ran out of fuel? The last AA flight that crased was a Airbus model, failure of the vertical stabilizer was the problem, not faulty maintanence.I used to work at Boeing in Everett Washington, which is outside of Seattle, and I never saw a new Avianca plane rolling out of the factory, but I did see many brand new AA 777 and 767 aircraft. AA is the USA's largest airline so they have many more flights and aircraft compaired to AVIANCA, which is also a monopoly because they were getting the asses kicked by ACES!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Crazy4Cali says on Aug 25, 2005, 09:53:

Maybe... ...but you can't blame running out of fuel on the age of the aircraft. Lack of fuel flow due to mechanical problems maybe, but lack of fuel flow due to lack of fuel is a pilot problem.

I thought it was kinda quaint the pilot of my West Carib. flight to San Andres was using a portable GPS nestled ahead of the throttle quadrant, but maybe that was a bad sign.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juanalejo says on Aug 26, 2005, 07:43:

Crispeta Just for you to know, with the exception of the planes that have been bought by Avianca this year by the new owners and one 767.300 which replaced another one of the same model, most of Avianca´s fleet was acquired at the factory including the 767, the 757, the MD 83 and the Fokker 50. With the exception of the Fokker, they do have a few years on their back but all are last generation planes, same ones that AA flies in exactly the same versions of planes today, with the difference that a few years back AA began their fleet renovation program by replacing the older DC9 by new generation 737 and the MD11 with the 777.

AV under the new owners have began a quick expansion program and they are buying second hand planes of the same models of those existing while they begin a fleet renovation program which by the way it seems will be mostly with Boeing. Boeing president was in Bogotá just two weeks ago and did say that continuing with the tradition of buying Boeing aircraft, AV is in final negotiations with them for the renewal with different types of aircraft including the 787.

And by the way the aircraft that crashed in NYC did ran out of fuel thanks partly to the fact that 707´s did not have fuel gauges and pilots had to do all kinds of math, to calculate fuel levels, and also to the fact that the plane was sent by JFK controllers first to Boston, then to Washington, back to New York due to weather and was put on hold even after the pilot asked for immediate landing. The only fault attributed to the pilot was not declaring full emergency, but rather immediate landing due to low fuel. New York courts declared New York controllers guilty. On the other hand AA flight crashed first because the pilot dialed the wrong airport code on the autopilot, and second because when the aircraft turned he forgot to close the speedbrakes as they tried to pull up. Florida courts declared AA guilty. After that accident all pilots in the world are required as part of their checks when they do a go around or a sudden pull up to physically push the speed brake to off position regardless if it is on or off.

AV also bought in the 60´s and 70´s brand new 727, 707, 720 and 747.

0 funny, 0 helpful.