This Friday a Cubana de Aviación plane crashedright after taking off from the José Martí airport in Havana. But it is not the first plane accident that occurs in Cuba. Previously, other accidents have occurred caused by weather phenomena and sometimes by pilot errors. Most of them on domestic flights to Santiago de Cuba.
The plane that Cubana de Aviación rented from the Mexican Damojh, which just crashed in the afternoon in an agricultural area next to terminal 1 of the José Martí airport,belongs to the company Global Air, which began operations in 1990 in Guadalajara, Mexico. There were 104 people traveling on it plus the foreign crew. At the moment it has only emerged that there are three survivors.
Worst
Until now, the most serious of all the air accidents that have occurred in Cuba dates from September 1989, when an Ilushin 62 device, bound for Milan, Italy, fell in Havana shortly after takeoff, on an inhabited area. All its occupants died, in addition to another 40 people who were on the ground.
The most recent
Before the event that just happened today,the most recent was in 2017, when a Cuban military equipment model AN-26, from the Aerogaviota airline, crashed into Loma de la Pimienta, a mountain located in the west, causing the death of the eight soldiers who were on board. He had left the Playa Baracoa airport.
Four major accidents
In the last 30 years, Cuba has recorded four major events linked to aeronautics, including the one that went to Italy, according toLas Americas Newspaper.
The other three are: an Antonov 24 with 44 passengers on board, which fell into the sea shortly after leaving the airport in Santiago de Cuba. It was in July1997.
A Russian-made Antonov-2 from the AeroTaxi company, which was traveling betweenHundred fires and the tourist resort of Cayo Coco. Its 16 occupants died, mainly Canadian, British and German tourists.It happened in 2002.
The third wasin November 2010, with a balance of 68 victims. It was a flight from the Aerocaribbean charter company that was going fromSantiago de Cuba to Havana, and that fell to the ground in the province of Sancti Spíritus. The device was a Franco-Italian-made ATR-72 and the cause was pilot error.
Two other accidents occurred on the Island andin the year 1990. An Antonov An-26, with flight number CU7406 and with 41 people on board, caught fire at the airport inSantiago de Cuba, Antonio Maceo. There were no victims.
In addition, a Yakovlev Yak-40 with registration CU-T1202 that on October 24, in Punta Jardinero, also inSantiago de Cuba, fell after the pilot decided to interrupt the instrument flight and continue visually, despite the bad weather conditions and being over a mountainous area. 11 people died.
Cuban aircraft accidents outside Cuba
Cuban aeronautics has also suffered accidents in other countries. The ones that are most remembered are those of the Ilyuskin Il-18D, with registration CU–T1270 of Cubana Aerocaribbean, whichNovember 15, 1992 collided with a mountain and crashed at an altitude of 850 meters, when it was preparing to land in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Its 34 occupants perished, among them Dominican chess players who were going to Cuba for an international tournament.
An Antonov An-24 RV, from Cubana, crashed onAugust 30, 1998 inQuito, Ecuador, after never being able to take off. 90 people died (81 on board and nine local residents).
The F-GTDI ship that theDecember 21, 1999 made an emergency landing at La Aurora airport, inGuatemala. The runway did not reach him and he fell in a town near the air terminal.
It had 314 people on board, mostly Guatemalan medical students in Cuba who were returning to their country. There were 26 deaths among crew members, passengers and local residents.
A few days later a Yakovlev Yak-42, in flight CU-T1285, caught fire and disintegrated inVenezuela. It was arriving in Carabobo from Havana and crashed into a hill. It left 22 dead.
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