Crash in Venezuela
 

Sorry to report this. 152 people onboard. No further details yet.

Just seen the Breaking News on Sky News. Seems to be down in the border area with Colombia.
Not a good few days for aviation :(
Have to hope there are survivors

MD80 emergency ?
 

Any further info on a MD80 emergency reporting problems with both engines, 155 pob at 07:30 UTC, registration HK-4374 enroute MPTO to TFFF ?

Hoping for some good news ...

My Spanish isn't flash but..........

"........el piloto reporto emergencia en sus dos turbinas posiblemente se siniestro..."

Double engine failure??????

Woomera

the pilot I report emergency in its two turbines possibly sinister

(babelfish translation)

This from the Associated Press:

URGENT
Passenger plane crashes in Venezuela with 152 passengers
aboard, official says

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A passenger plane crashed in
remote western Venezuela with 152 passengers aboard early
Tuesday, an aviation official said. It was unclear whether
anyone survived.
The West Caribbean Airways plane was headed from Panama to
Martinique when its pilot reported engine trouble to the
Caracas airport, said Francisco Paz, president of the
National Aviation Institute. Airport authorities lost radio
contact with the plane later in the area of Machiques, in
the western state of Zulia, he said.


161147 aug 05GMT

"Siniestro". Are you guys sure this doesn't just mean left, ie. the left engine ?

Info on the airline...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Caribbean_Airways

Direct translation:
....The pilot has reported an emergency on both his engines probably has crashed...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4156224.stm

BBC reporting it too, sounds like its in a pretty remote part of the world, if it's come down its probably not so good.

Thoughts with all those involved, hoping for the best

Low chances of survival going down in remote western Venezuela. Jungle vegetation will further hamper rescue efforts. Lets hope…

If the registration is correct (HK-4374X), this is the aircraft in question:

http://myaviation.net/search/photo_s...hp?id=00417078

Some reports mention that engines failed one after another. According to the Venezuelan interior minister:

some one on CNN saying it lost one engine, turned back then lost the other.
Also an expert predicting a decent rate of 7000ft/min...dick

"The pilot asked permission to enter Venezuelan air space and land at Maracaibo airport due to a failure in one of its engines, reported the minister. Soon after this, he reported that the second engine was failing too. From this point on, the airplane began to loose altitude at 7.000 f/m and crashed"

Another sad day for aviation. Too many accidents in very few days.

Descending at nearly 35m/s? That seems rather fast. I hope - if it is an engine failure - that people have survived.

Swedish media claim 160 onboard and total loss, the Mad-dog was 19-years old according http://www.aviation-safety.net

Don't know much about this airline, but it would appear as if they were recently in the news for maintenance issues:

"02 JUL 2005 West Caribbean Airways temporarily suspends operations
The Colombian airline West Caribbean Airways temporarily suspended its operations after Colombian authorities grounded the MD-80 fleet of the airline reportedly because of non-compliance with an airworthiness directive. The AD ordered the operator to install fire retarding insulation material. (Diario la Republica)"

Courtesy of Aviation Safety Network.

Double engine failure on an MD-80 is not good. The wings are not that efficient to begin with and if the CG was forward without engine power you are going to need a place to land in a hurry.

RIP :(

Both Helios and this company are very young...started operations in 1998 i believe...

Before this thread gets out of hand like the some of the other incident threads I'd like to ask that posters refrain from posting the usual "condolences", "rest in peace" etc messages. This is a discussion forum and we can all take it as fact that we are sorry for the families of the pax and crew. It's bad enough keeping this forum for debate by those in the business without having to fend off the sometimes overwhelming commentary from so called armchair experts with theories that often border on the bizarre.

So, if you are familiar with the aircraft type ether as a pilot, crew member or engineer or else you are familiar with the airline or the route and location of the accident then feel free to discuss. If you are none of the above but have a question for anyone of the above then feel free. If you are going to make assumptions then at least can we have your qualification for doing so. Also, there is no need for endless links to media articles about the incident unless there is something new that has not been aired here already.

Finally, let me repeat, that this is not the place for grieving messages of condolence. It's a 'given' that we feel for the victims and their families and let's leave it at that.