Venezuelan Airline Keeps Planes Grounded After Deadly Crash
EFE Ingles
via NewsEdge Corporation
Caracas, Feb 26 (EFE).- Venezuela's Santa Barbara Airlines announced Tuesday that it has voluntarily postponed the resumption of flights with turbo-prop planes of the type involved in a crash last week that left 46 people dead.
The decision "is in line with the need to provide our crew members, flight assistants and other comrades with the emotional and spiritual stability that after these difficult moments they will need to start doing their jobs again," the company said in a communique.
He said the decision was taken "after the positive results of the auditing and operational controls undertaken by the National Civil Aviation Institute (INAC), which verified the optimum state of our fleet and its compliance with all the regulations."
The aircraft involved in last Thursday's crash was a twin-engine ATR 42-300, built by ATR, a joint venture of France's EADS and Italian manufacturer Finmeccanica.
The affected flights, one to Aruba and others on domestic routes, will be left to other airlines, Santa Barbara said, adding that it would continue regularly scheduled jetliner services to Spain, the United States and Ecuador.
Venezuelan authorities said that Tuesday would be the final day of recovery operations at the mountainside crash site 11 kilometers (7 miles) northeast of the western city of Merida.
The ill-fated plane with 46 people aboard slammed into an Andean peak 4,200 meters (13,770 feet) high.
The head of Civil Protection, Gen. Antonio Rivero, said that "more than 95 percent" of the victims' remains have been removed from the crash site for forensic
experts to identify in order to deliver them to their families.
INAC director Ramon Viņas said that the country's airports will undergo "a certification process" and that the airport at Merida "might strengthen flight restrictions when there are visibility problems."
Prosecutors have also summoned for next Tuesday Santa Barbara Airlines boss Jorge Alvarez, general counsel Franco Puppio and maintenance chief Cesar Guedez to report on the crew's latest training courses and medical exams, among other matters.
A French mission arrived in Venezuela this weekend to cooperate in the investigation and examine the two flight data recorders, or "black boxes," recovered from the crash site. EFE