CARACAS (AFP) — Rescue crews struggled Friday to reach a remote mountainside high in the Venezuelan Andes where a passenger plane with 46 people on board is feared to have crashed.
Witnesses in the Andean region of Coyado del Condor saw the aircraft go down, according to a civil defense official in Merida, some 500 kilometers (300 miles) southwest of Caracas, where the flight originated.
"A telephone call was received from some of the local people. Right now rescue teams are going to the area to confirm the information," the official, Noel Marquez, told AFP.
The Santa Barbara Airlines flight left Merida bound for Caracas and was reported missing at 5:45 pm (2245 GMT) Thursday, Civil Defense Director General Antonio Rivero told AFP.
The plane, a French-Italian-made twin-engine turbo-prop ATR42, was carrying 43 passengers and three crew, he said.
Marquez said the plane was reported to have crashed at a point some 4,750 meters (15,600 feet) above sea level, near the La Pernada lake.
It had apparently not sent any emergency signals during its flight, but alarms went out immediately after the aircraft failed to report to flight controllers monitoring the route, Marquez said.
"Immediately a search and rescue operation was launched. Early tomorrow (Friday) two M17 rescue helicopters will be deployed," he added.
Rivero said about 100 rescuers had been dispatched to search for the aircraft.
A first team left Thursday night from the village of Mucuchies, one hour from Merida, and would likely reach the site Friday morning, he said, travelling on foot because of the steep terrain.
He added that temperatures in the area were close to freezing.
Santa Barbara Airlines president Jorge Alvaraez said he had no concrete information about the aircraft.
"At this moment we do not have any solid or verified information on what has happened," Alvarez said on television.
He said the plane was built in the 1980s and had been properly maintained with oversight from civil aviation authorities.
The company, founded in Maraciabo in 1995, has no record of accidents.
It serves both domestic and international routes, flying to Madrid, Miami, Aruba and Tenerife.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
