Ecuadorian Jet Disappears, All Feared Dead
January 29, 2002
An Ecuadorian commercial jet disappeared yesterday morning while in route to an airport in the town of Tulcan. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane about twenty minutes after it departed Ecuador's capital, Quito. Controllers say the plane probably crashed near Ipiales, Colombia. Officials believe foggy weather may have contributed to the accident. The TAME airlines Boeing 727 carried eighty-three passengers and nine crew members.
Colombian and Ecuadorian air forces searched the border area until nightfall yesterday but found no wreckage. A spokesperson for Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority told reporters Monday that rescue planes and helicopters would begin searching two volcanic mountains near the plane's approach to Tulcan. The peaks of the Nevado de Cumbal and the Chiles Volcano exceed 15,000 feet.
Less than two weeks ago, another Ecuadorian jet crashed near El Tigre, Colombia killing all twenty-six passengers aboard. Guerrilla attacks have been ruled out in both aircraft accidents.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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