- Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518
Infobox Airliner accident
name = Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518
Crash
Image caption = A similar ATR 42
Coordinates = coord|8|39|33.804|N|71|14|17.307|W
Origin =Alberto Carnevalli Airport , Mérida,Venezuela
Destination =Simón Bolívar International Airport ,Caracas ,Venezuela
Date = start date|2008|02|21
Type = TBD
Site =Venezuela
Fatalities = 46
Aircraft Type = ATR 42-300
Operator =Santa Bárbara Airlines
Tail Number = YV1449
Passengers = 43
Crew = 3
Survivors = 0Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518, was a ATR 42-300 twin-turboprop aircraft, registration YV1449, operating as a scheduled domestic flight from Mérida,Venezuela toCaracas that crashed into the side of a mountain onFebruary 21 ,2008 , shortly after takeoff. [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20080221-0 ASN accident record] ] [cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/21/venezuela.plane/index.html | title=Jetliner reported missing in Venezuela|date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-02-22|publisher=CNN ] Forty-three passengers were reportedly on board, with a crew of two pilots and a flight attendant. [cite news| url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jb0FRvssmaa9sqaM8Fqre6bIkMpAD8UV2LB80| title=Plane Carrying 46 Missing in Venezuela|date=2008-02-21|accessdate=2008-02-21|publisher=Associated Press viaGoogle News ] The wreckage was discovered a day later with no survivors.Flight history
Mérida, a university and tourist town located high in the
Andes mountains, is surrounded by higher terrain, with night flights prohibited at the nearbyAlberto Carnevalli Airport . OnFebruary 21 ,2008 , flight 518 was the last scheduled flight out of the airport, departing at about 17:00 local time.Shortly after take-off, the ATR 42-300 twin-turboprop slammed into a sheer convert|13000|ft|m|sing=on rock wall called "Indian Face" (Spanish: "La Cara del Indio"). No distress calls were received from the aircraft prior to impact. [http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-32111620080223 Rescuers find Venezuela plane crash black boxes] ,Reuters ,Feb 24 ,2008 . Retrieved on2008-02-28 .] [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/24/news/Venezuela-Plane-Crash.php Venezuela begins recovering bodies from Andean plane crash] , The Associated Press,February 24 ,2008 . Retrieved on2008-02-28 .]Crash site
Antonio Rivero, national director of civil defense, said rescuers had identified the site of the crash in the south-western state of Mérida.
Unión Radio cited civil defense regional chief, Gerardo Rojas, as saying that rescue crews were racing to the poorly-accessible crash site in the Andes Mountains. [cite news|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/wreckage-of-venezuelan-airliner-spotted_10020199.html | title=Wreckage of Venezuelan airliner spotted |date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-02-22|publisher=Thaindian.com ] Mountain villagers reported hearing a huge noise they thought could be a crash soon after the disappearance and loss of contact with flight 518. According to local police, the wreckage of the aircraft has been located atPáramo de Mucuchíes , in the sector of Collao del Cóndor, Páramo Piedra Blanca, near the Laguna de la Perlada. The search operation was conducted from the regional hub city of Barinas in western Venezuela.Air-rescue services said that the twin-
turboprop ATR 42 crashed convert|10|km|mi from the mountain city of Mérida after take-off. Searchers spotted the wreckage of the plane carrying 43 passengers and 3 crew members in the mountains of western Venezuela on Friday,February 22 . Fire-fighter Sgt. Jhonny Paz said officials believe there are no survivors and are sending a helicopter to the site of the accident after a refueling stop. "The impact was direct. The aircraft is practically pulverized," he told the Venezuelan television stationGlobovisión . [cite news|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jb0FRvssmaa9sqaM8Fqre6bIkMpAD8UVDL903| title=Plane Crash Site in Venezuela Found |date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-02-22|publisher=Associated Press |accessdate=2008-02-28] At the national civil aeronautical institute, General Ramón Vinas confirmed that, "by the type of impact, we presume that there are no survivors".Passengers
As search-and-rescue activities were underway, local media published the passenger list of Sánta Barbara Airlines flight 518. [cite news|url=http://www.laverdad.com/detallenew.asp?idcat=10&idnot=68927| title=Passenger Manifest of Santa Barbara Airlines flight 508 |date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-02-22|publisher=
laverdad.com ]Most of the passengers were Venezuelan; three
Colombia ns and an American died in the crash. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261106.stm Venezuela crash data boxes found] ."BBC ,2008-02-23 . Retrieved on2008-02-28 .]Among the passengers were an anti-Chávez political analyst, Italo Luongo,cite news|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5juSV3gb4SkWKbblKA-rYTp6j0CoA| title= 'No survivors' in Venezuelan plane crash: officials |date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-02-22|publisher=Agence France Presse (AFP)] [cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-03-16-venezuela-chavez_x.htm|title=Chavez followers get paramilitary training|publisher=USA Today|date=2005-03-16|accessdate=2008-02-29] and Alexander Quintero, the mayor of
Mucuchíes , a small town in the state of Mérida, Quintero's 11-year old son, and two relatives of federal under-minister for civic securityTarek El Alssami .cite web | title = Venezuela Plane Crash Kills 46|publisher= washingtonpost.com | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/22/AR2008022200219.html?nav=rss_world | accessdate = 2008-02-24 |author=Rueda, Jorge |work=The Associated Press |date = 2008-02-22] Vivian Guarch, a 53-year-old United States citizen and executive forStanford Financial Group Bank , died in the crash.Aircraft information
* [http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?regsearch=YV1449&view=true "ATR-42-300 YV1449" pictures from jetphotos.net]
* [http://new.myaviation.net/search/search.php?view=®nr=YV1449 "ATR-42-300 YV1449" pictures from myaviation.net]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20080221-0 "ATR-42-300 YV1449" air-crash info from aviation-safety.net]References
External links
* [http://www.noticias.com.ve/nacionales/6-sucesos/60-venezuela-consternada-por-la-tragica-muerte-de-46-personas-que-volaban-de-merida-hacia-caracas Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518]
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