LET 410 down in Mexico.
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LET 410 down in Mexico.
Sincere condolences to everyone involved in this accident. Horrible time to have to be dealing with this, with all air-transport down. All the victims were from the Seattle area on a Holland America cruise ship according to local news here.
Plane Crash in Mexico Kills 19
By THERESA BRAINE, Associated Press Writer
MERIDA, Mexico (AP) - A plane carrying 16 American tourists and three crew members on a visit to Mayan ruins crashed in Yucatan state on Wednesday. All aboard died.
Fernando Vargas, director general of Aero Ferinco, said in a telephone interview that the passengers had gotten off of the cruise ship Massdam at the Caribbean island of Cozumel and were flying to visit the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition he not be otherwise identified, said all 16 of the tourists were U.S. citizens, most from the Pacific Northwest. He said not all of their families had been notified.
Vargas said the twin-engine LET 410 with 16 passengers, a Mexican guide and two pilots crashed shortly about 5 p.m. near the village of Tinum shortly after taking off from Chichen Itza on a return trip to Cozumel.
"There were no indications of an emergency,'' Vargas said.
The plane was flying at about 500 feet when it began turning onto a course requested by the air traffic controller, he added. "It did not stop turning'' and suddenly plunged to the ground.
"We don't know what happened,'' Vargas said, though Mexican federal aviation officials were investigating.
Vargas said pilot Jose Luis Romero had 7,100 hours flying time and co-pilot Aurelio Perez Escalante more than 1,000.
The administrator of the Chichen Itza airport, Eduardo Alfaro de la Torre, told the government news agency Notimex that the pilot of the plane had not radioed for help before the accident.
The airline, based on Cozumel, flies in the Yucatan Peninsula, to Guatemala and Cuba. It specializes in chartered air tours.
[ 13 September 2001: Message edited by: Cyclic Hotline ]
Plane Crash in Mexico Kills 19
By THERESA BRAINE, Associated Press Writer
MERIDA, Mexico (AP) - A plane carrying 16 American tourists and three crew members on a visit to Mayan ruins crashed in Yucatan state on Wednesday. All aboard died.
Fernando Vargas, director general of Aero Ferinco, said in a telephone interview that the passengers had gotten off of the cruise ship Massdam at the Caribbean island of Cozumel and were flying to visit the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition he not be otherwise identified, said all 16 of the tourists were U.S. citizens, most from the Pacific Northwest. He said not all of their families had been notified.
Vargas said the twin-engine LET 410 with 16 passengers, a Mexican guide and two pilots crashed shortly about 5 p.m. near the village of Tinum shortly after taking off from Chichen Itza on a return trip to Cozumel.
"There were no indications of an emergency,'' Vargas said.
The plane was flying at about 500 feet when it began turning onto a course requested by the air traffic controller, he added. "It did not stop turning'' and suddenly plunged to the ground.
"We don't know what happened,'' Vargas said, though Mexican federal aviation officials were investigating.
Vargas said pilot Jose Luis Romero had 7,100 hours flying time and co-pilot Aurelio Perez Escalante more than 1,000.
The administrator of the Chichen Itza airport, Eduardo Alfaro de la Torre, told the government news agency Notimex that the pilot of the plane had not radioed for help before the accident.
The airline, based on Cozumel, flies in the Yucatan Peninsula, to Guatemala and Cuba. It specializes in chartered air tours.
[ 13 September 2001: Message edited by: Cyclic Hotline ]
