Cubana Yak-42 crashes with loss of 22 on board

Published: 1/5/2000

The festive season has marred by tragedy for the Cuban flag carrier, Cubana de Aviacion, with two crashes involving the loss of 28 people. The first incident occurred when a DC-10, wet leased to Cubana by a French carrier, left the runway in Guatamela City, killing six local residents. The second incident, on December 25th in Venezuela, involved a Yak-42 on a scheduled flight from Havana to Valencia in northern Venezuela, which crashed with no survivors 12 miles south of Valencia"s airport. The flight to the airport, 120km southwest of Caracas, was redirected to Valencia because of the closure of Caracas International Airport, due to torrential rains. Cuban investigators, led by the Director of Cuba's Institute of Civil Aeronautics, Amilcar Silveira, in cooperation with Venezuelan authorities, have examined the site and are reviewing the communications between control tower and the plane's pilot. Meanwhile, the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics has confirmed the names of those travelling to Venezuela on the plane. Of the 22 people on board - 12 crew members and ten passengers - four were from Venezuela, two from Holland and the remaining 16 from Cuba. They were all heading for Venezuela to aid the victims of the recent natural disaster.

Article ID: 1286