Fireball airplane crash kills all besides lady, 9, who was saved by cushion of seaweed
Erika Delgado was travelling with her parents to the Caribbean resort city of Cartagena when tragedy struck the DC-9 Intercontinental flight. She was the only survivor of the disaster
A nine-year-old girl got off with just a broken arm as she emerged as the sole survivor of a catastrophic plane crash in northern Colombia that killed all 47 passengers and five crew members.
The DC-9 Intercontinental airliner exploded in mid-air, according to authorities, while witnesses in Maria La Baja, a small town 500 miles northwest of Bogota, described a chilling scene. The plane, flying without lights, plummeted to the ground, slammed into an embankment, and toppled into a lagoon back on January 11, 1995.
Erika Delgado, travelling with her parents and younger brother from Bogota to the Caribbean resort city of Cartagena, was discovered on a mound of seaweed that had cushioned her fall.
Farmers in the area heard her cries for help after the crash. One local said Erika told them her mother had pushed her out of the plane as it broke apart in flames. Erika was rushed to the hospital in shock but was described as “in good condition, conscious” and waiting for family members.
At the crash site, rescue workers pulled 32 bodies from the swampy lagoon, including those of the pilot and co-pilot. The murky waters were suspected to have carried some remains downstream toward the Caribbean Sea.
Rescuers searched the area using canoes, lanterns and portable generators, while Navy boats monitored the stream’s mouth for further evidence.
The crash occurred as the plane approached Cartagena airport. The pilot’s final communication requested clearance to descend from 18,000 feet to 14,000 feet but moments later the aircraft was reported as engulfed in flames by the pilot of a nearby plane.
Witness Argemiro Vergara saw the plane ablaze, around 900 feet above the ground, before it plunged into the lagoon and broke in two.
Colombian aviation authorities refrained from speculating on whether terrorism played a role in the crash. “Any judgment which we make immediately would be premature, irresponsible, and not serious,” said Alvaro Raad Gomez, the aviation authority director at the time.
Investigators determined the plane exploded when it hit the ground, with no traces of explosives found. The cause of the crash is said to have been a probable wrong setting of the altimeter.
This crash marks one of Colombia’s deadliest aviation disasters in recent years. The last major incident occurred on May 19, 1993, when a SAM Airlines Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain near Medellin, killing all 132 aboard, reports Independent.
Smaller crashes followed in 1994, with 11 people killed in May and seven more in April. Colombia’s aviation safety record has long been under scrutiny. International passenger and pilot groups have criticised the country for poor air-traffic control, insufficient navigational aids and ongoing security threats, making it one of the riskiest places in the world to fly.
