News / Americas

Cuba: Ice, Human Error Caused Deadly November Plane Crash

Police and soldiers stand at the location where an Aero Caribbean flight crashed in Guasimal, 400 km (249 miles) from Havana, Nov 5, 2010 (file photo)
TEXT SIZE - +

Investigators in Cuba say weather conditions and pilot error caused an airliner to crash in the Caribbean country last month, killing all 68 people on board.

In Cuban state media Thursday, Cuba's Civil Aeronautics Institute said the AeroCaribbean turboprop began its flight on Nov 4 with no problems, but encountered severe icy conditions at an altitude of about 6,000 meters.

The report said the icing, coupled with crew errors, led to the crash.  It says the plane was in good technical condition and all its systems were functioning properly prior to the crash.

The ATR 72-212 aircraft had left Santiago de Cuba and was en route to Havana when it crashed in a mountainous area in the central Sancti Spiritus province, where thick vegetation hampered recovery efforts. Investigators did recover the "black box" flight data and voice recorders.

Cuban state media reported the passengers included travelers from 10 foreign countries - Argentina, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and Venezuela. Thirty-three passengers and all seven crew members were Cuban.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

You May Like

Video Egypt's Conservative Rural Vote Appears Split

Early speculation after the first two-day round is showing a race too close to call More

NATO Continues Plans for Missile Defense

While Afghanistan dominated talks in Chicago, member states also reaffirmed their commitment to ballistic-missile defense More

War Declared on Invasive Leaping Asian Carp

When Asian carp were first imported decades ago, few foresaw their environmental impact. More

This forum has been closed.
Comments
     
There are no comments in this forum. Be first and add one

Latest World News