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By Mike Mitchell |
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August 18, 2010 -
On Monday an Aires Airlines Flight 8250, while on final approach for
landing at Officials reported the plane was landing through thunderstorms. The Boeing 737 mechanically appeared normal when just before touchdown, about 100 feet above the runway, the aircraft was struck by lighting. Flight 8250, about 1:50 AM local time,
touchdown short of the runway and skidded on its belly. The fuselage
fractured into three main pieces and bits of landing gear and at least
one engine were ripped off. The passengers ran and others were helped to
safety. Flight 8250 originated out of |
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The Boeing 737 was carrying a crew of six and 125 passengers. Miraculously only one death was reported, a 68-year-old woman, Amar Fernandez de Barreto, who died enroute to the hospital as a result of a heart attack. 119 people were treated and released at local clinics and five of them in serious condition remain hospitalized. Ricardo Ramirez, a vacationing passenger, reported all had seemed normal, even though the plane was flying through a storm, with flashes of lightning as it neared the airport and that the accident appeared out of nowhere. Ramirez further reported when the aircraft finally came to a stop after skidding down the runway he struggled to free himself and his wife from their seatbelts, "We tried to get out of the plane because the plane was starting to shoot flames." Firefighters were able to quickly put out the flames while police officers assisted in helping evacuate passengers from the aircraft. At the time of the crash weather reports indicated multiple lightning strikes around the airport and analysis of data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network indicated 11 strikes within 6 miles of the runway in a five-minute span at the time of the crash. Investigators will look at what brought down this aircraft and what cased the aircraft to break into three pieces. The Boeing 737 is an aircraft that can withstand lighting strikes so lighting in its self more than likely was a contributing factor. There are reports that the aircraft may have been brought down by a down draft of air as the aircraft was descending to the airport which may have been the cause for the crash. |
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The investigation
is being conducted by the Colombia Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Boeing has reported that they have sent a team to the crash site to
provide technical support to the Colombia DJAC to assist in the agency's
investigation of the accident, at the invitation of the Colombian
authorities. The National Transportation Safety Board has as well
dispatched a team of investigators to assist the
NTSB Chairman
Deborah A.P. Hersman has designated Senior Air Safety Investigator
Lorenda Ward as the U.S. Accredited Representative. The
Aires is an
airline headquartered in
The airline
started operations on February 23, 1981. It was formed in
The airline
recently introduced its first operation to the
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