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Plane crash kills one

Published:Tuesday | August 17, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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A police officer stands by the crashed plane sitting on the runway at the airport on San Andres Island in Colombia yesterday. The Boeing 737 operated by the airline Aires crashed on landing after departing from Bogota around midnight local time with 131 passengers. According to an Air Force official, at least one passenger died. - AP
A police officer stands by the crashed plane sitting on the runway at the airport on San Andres Island in Colombia yesterday. The Boeing 737 operated by the airline Aires crashed on landing after departing from Bogota around midnight local time with 131 passengers. According to an Air Force official, at least one passenger died. - AP
A police officer stands by the crashed plane sitting on the runway at the airport on San Andres Island in Colombia yesterday. The Boeing 737 operated by the airline Aires crashed on landing after departing from Bogota around midnight local time with 131 passengers. According to an Air Force official, at least one passenger died. - AP
A police officer stands by the crashed plane sitting on the runway at the airport on San Andres Island in Colombia yesterday. The Boeing 737 operated by the airline Aires crashed on landing after departing from Bogota around midnight local time with 131 passengers. According to an Air Force official, at least one passenger died. - AP
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Colombia (AP):

A Boeing 737 jetliner carrying 131 people crashed in a thunderstorm and broke apart as it slid onto the runway on a Caribbean island yesterday. The region's governor said it was a miracle that only one person died.

Colombian Air Force Colonel David Barrero said officials were investigating reports the plane had been hit by lightning before crashing at 1:49 a.m. (3:49 a.m. EDT; 0649 GMT) on San Andres Island, a resort area of 78,000 people about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of the Nicaraguan coast. He said other possible causes were being probed as well.

San Andres Governor Pedro Gallardo said 125 passengers and six crew members had been aboard Aires Flight 8520, but the only person killed was Amar Fernandez de Barreto, 68.

"It was a miracle and we have to give thanks to God," that only one person died, said Governor Pedro Gallardo.

119 treated

Officials said 119 people were treated or checked at local clinics and five of them were seriously injured. The airline said at least five United States (US) citizens had been aboard and the US Embassy in Colombia confirmed at least four had been injured and were receiving care.

Airline representative Erika Zarante said four Brazilians, two Germans, two Costa Ricans and two French citizens were also on the plane.

The accident occurred so suddenly that the pilot had not reported an emergency to the control tower, said Colonel Donald Tascon, deputy director of the civil aeronautics agency. He said the plane's low altitude as it prepared to land may have averted worse damage.

Passenger Ricardo Ramirez, a vacationing civil engineer, told Caracol Radio that all had seemed normal, even though the plane was flying through a storm, with flashes of lightning, as it neared the airport.

The plane hit short of the runway and slid forward on its belly as the fuselage fractured and bits of landing gear and at least one engine were ripped off.

The jet wound up on one end of the runway, crumpled and in pieces, as passengers scrambled or were helped to safety.

Firefighters quickly doused the beginnings of a fire on a wing, said Police General Orlando Paez.

Ninety-nine passengers were taken to the Amor de Patria Hospital on San Andres, said the hospital director, Dr Robert Sanchez.

Twenty other passengers were treated at another clinic, according to the national civil aviation agency.

Barrero, commander of the Caribbean Air Group, said by telephone from San Andres that "the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport."

He said the cause of the accident was uncertain.

Dr Ricardo Villarreal, director of the clinic of the same name, said the pilot suffered some scratches and was under observation. He identified him as Wilson Gutierrez.