All 160 killed in Venezuela airline crash
A Colombian charter MD-83 jet crashed in Venezuela pre-dawn Tuesday after its engines failed, killing all 160 tourists home from Panama to Martinique.
Most of the passengers were local government officials from Martinique who were returning from vacation with their families.
The pilot had reported problems with one engine and requested a change in route for an emergency landing in the western Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, but then reported loss of its second engine, lost altitude and crashed.
Waiting relatives at the airport in Martinique were captured on TV crying and shouting as as an official read out the names of the plane’s passengers.
The Fort-de-France airport official said the plane had been chartered by the Globe Trotters travel agency in Martinique.
The aircraft had also been inspected twice by French authorities in the French territory of Martinique and given the all-clear, French Transport Minister Dominique Perben said.
France has opened a crisis centre for relatives of the victims.
French President Jacques Chirac described the crash as a “shocking catastrophe”, and offered his condolences to families and friends.
Charles Kao
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