Plane missing in Venezuela with dozens aboard

[Doctor Cynic]

Source: Reuters

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan commercial plane carrying up to 46 people went missing on Thursday soon after taking off from an Andean mountain city just before dusk, authorities said.

The plane of the local airline Santa Barbara flew out of the high-altitude city of Merida headed for the capital Caracas and by late Thursday had been out of contact with air traffic controllers for hours, the civil aviation authority said.

Authorities had not identified the location of the plane in the mountainous area and were sending search and rescue teams to check its whereabouts, Civil Defense chief Antonio Rivero told reporters.

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080222/tts-uk-crash-venezuela-13002c7_2.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Shit! Fingers crossed for them. nt

[Pavulon]

2. Not good..

best wishes for the passengers.

[Pavulon]

3. Probably an ATR42

they have larger jets but not reasonable to operate a 7 body on that route..

[Judi Lynn]

4. Bad news. It crashed:Wreckage of Venezuelan airliner spotted - Summary

Wreckage of Venezuelan airliner spotted - Summary

Buenos Aires/Caracas - Rescuers have located a Venezuelan airliner that crashed in a mountainous jungle area with 46 people on board in northern Venezuela, authorities said. Antonio Rivero, national director of civil defence, said rescuers had identified the site of the crash in the south-western state of Merida.

"We don't yet know the condition of the passengers or crew," he said, adding that the darkness had fallen and hindered the search and rescue effort.

Regional Civil Defence chief Gerardo Rojas said the crash site was located high in the Andes Mountains.

"We have information from local police of the probable site at Paramo de Mucuchies, in the sector of Collao del Condor, Paramo Piedra Blanca, some 4,750 metres above sea level, near the Laguna de la Perlada," Rojas said.

More:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/187465,wreckage-of-venezuelan-airliner-spotted--summary.html

[Judi Lynn]

5. Crews seek plane with 46 aboard in Venezuela; residents report hearing a crash

Crews seek plane with 46 aboard in Venezuela; residents report hearing a crash
JORGE RUEDA, Associated Press Writer

February 22, 2008 12:50 AM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Rescue crews were sent Friday to find a commercial airliner carrying 46 people that disappeared in southwestern Venezuela. Officials feared the worst after residents reported hearing a crash in the mountains.

The flight was reported missing 30 minutes after takeoff on Thursday from the city of Merida. The rescue crews were headed to the mountainous area of Collado del Condor, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet.

Residents in the area reported by phone ''that they heard a great crash,'' said Noel Marquez, the emergency management director in Merida state.
(snip)

Santa Barbara is a small airline that covers domestic routes in Venezuela.

The French-made ATR 42-300 carrying 43 passengers and three crew members took off from Merida's airport at 4:59 p.m., officials said. The duration of the flight was to have been an hour and 45 minutes.

The area where it disappeared is about 400 miles southwest of Caracas.

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565249174237742446