Mexico: Plane Skids Off Runway, Six Dead

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Friday October 6 8:57 PM ET Mexico Plane Skids Off Runway in Rain, Six Dead

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least six people were killed on Friday when an Aeromexico DC-9 carrying 83 people plowed into houses and vehicles in heavy rain after careering off the runway in northern Mexico, officials said.

A Red Cross spokesman in the town of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state near the U.S. border told local radio six people on the ground were killed and up to 11 injured, contradicting early reports of some 40 casualties.

Jose Manuel Diaz de Rivera, spokesman for Aeromexico, run by government-owned Cintra (CINTRAA.MX), said those who died were on the ground and that no passengers were killed.

``Five passengers and one crew member were slightly injured and taken to hospitals nearby,'' he noted. He said there were 83 people on board. Initial radio reports said the plane was carrying around 100 people.

A spokesman for the airport said the accident was caused by heavy rainfall.

Toffic Salum, director of Tamaulipas civil protection, said: ``It (the plane) crashed into houses near the runway.''

Over the past few days the Mexican Gulf has been lashed by strong rains and winds from tropical depression Keith, which on Thursday was downgraded from a hurricane after a rampage through Central America.

Raul Galvez, a passenger on the plane, Aeromexico Flight 250 from Mexico City to Reynosa, told the radio: ``It was raining heavily when the plane landed and overshot the runway ... people were killed in vehicles that were hit by the plane,'' Galvez said.

It was the third serious air accident in Mexico in the past 12 months. An Aerocaribe plane crashed in the southern state of Chiapas on July 9, killing all 19 aboard. In November last year a DC-9 from the bankrupt airline Taesa went down, claiming 18 lives.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), October 06, 2000

Answers

Oct 7, 2000 - 02:46 PM

Airline, Mexican Government Investigate Cause of Deadly Plane Accident

The Associated Press

REYNOSA, Mexico (AP) - Government investigators and officials from Aeromexico airline gathered in this northern Mexican city Saturday to determine what caused a DC-9 aircraft to skid out of control on the Texas-Mexico border, slamming into houses and killing a mother and her three children.

Investigators were interviewing airplane crew and airport personnel as well as checking the condition of the plane that caused the damage on Friday.

"We can't speculate on what the cause was yet. It hasn't yet been officially determined," said Javier Quijano, an investigator from the federal Civil Aeronautics agency, which is looking into the crash along with the Mexican and local attorneys general. He said a conclusion could take 10 days, and that the plane would not be removed from the ditch where it came to rest until the probe is complete.

The Aeromexico plane, en route from Mexico City to Reynosa with 83 passengers and five crew, was unable to stop Friday after landing at Reynosa airport, across the border from McAllen, Texas. Skidding in stormy weather, it smashed into at least two cars and three homes just beyond the runway.

Those on board escaped with minor cuts and bruises, but a 40-year-old woman and her three young children were killed when the plane struck their home. Local officials identified the woman as Yolanda de los Santos. The children were 5-year-old Guadalupe Jasso de los Santos, 3- year-old Artemio Jasso de los Santos and 1-year-old Antonio Jasso de los Santos.

There were initial reports that two people walking in the area also died, but investigator Juan Antonio Vargas said he had no information to that effect.

Four passengers and a flight attendant were hospitalized with injuries and remained under observation at a local hospital, Aeromexico said in a news release. All aboard were Mexican citizens. The people in the cars suffered minor injuries.

On Friday, airline spokeswoman Alejandra Gonzalez said the pilot put on the brakes but the plane didn't stop. In a statement earlier, the airline blamed the rain, saying "the climatic conditions caused the plane not to brake."

Airport manager Silverio Ruiz told the government news agency Notimex that the braking system had failed. Later, he told Notimex that the airport's short runway could have contributed to the crash. It was also soaked with heavy rains from tropical depression Keith.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3K28N1EC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 07, 2000.


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