13 people killed in Peru plane crash; passengers expressed fears prior to flying

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

A Peruvian Air Force Twin Otter plane crashed on May 24 in Peru, killing at least 13 people.

The plane was part of a service to help remote communities not served by commercial flights, and crashed shortly after takeoff in a thunderstorm in dense jungle 563 kilometres from Lima. The flight originated in Iquitos, capital of the region, and had flown on to Orellana, where it had just taken off from when the accident occurred.

Survivors said after the crash that they had attempted to persuade the pilot not to takeoff in the adverse weather conditions, but they had been assured by Air Force personnel that they would be safe as they were on board a military aircraft.

Survivor Juan Saavedra said that, on takeoff, the pilot immediately began struggling to control the plane in high winds. It then dropped and flew between two trees, shearing off its wings. Another survivor said that immediately prior to the crash the pilot gave an order to turn off the engine in a move that is speculated to have been intended to prevent a post-impact fire.

Local officials said 20 people were on board, with police giving seven survivors and the Defence Ministry eight. No passenger list or official report has yet been released regarding the crash, but it is known that 13 bodies were recovered from the wreckage. Juan Montes, a police spokesman in the jungle village Contamana, supposed to be the aircraft's next stop, said that the plane had a three-man crew, all of whom were killed.

Maria Luisa Armas, 93, the oldest resident of Contamana, is reported by survivors to have survived initially but insisted that other survivors leave her in the aircraft and go off to find help. She was one of the 13 deceased ultimately pulled out of the wreckage.

The survivors were taken to Pucallpa, which was supposed to be the last stop on the flight.

According to the state news agency, Andina, homes had been deroofed and trees felled by powerful winds earlier the same day.

Sources

"Passengers of plane crashing in Peru try to persuade pilot not to take off in thunderstorm" — Pravda, May 29, 2007
"Passengers aboard crashed Peru plane urged pilot not to take off" — Canada.com, May 28, 2007
"Remains of 13 Found in Peru Plane Crash" — Guardian Unlimited, May 27, 2007

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License