Mailén Díaz Almaguer, the sole survivor of the Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 accident, broke her silence before the cameras of N+ Univisión 23 and revealed a detail she had never shared before: she remembers that moments before the tragedy, the flight was on the verge of being canceled and replaced by a bus.
"I remember that at one point the plane was not going to take off; they were going to put buses," said the young woman, who was 19 years old on May 18, 2018, when the aircraft carrying her and her husband to Holguín crashed 35 seconds after taking off from Havana Airport.
That possible cancellation of the flight, which unfortunately did not happen, is one of the few memories she has of that day. Her mind completely blocked out the moments leading up to the impact.
"I don't remember anything, neither inside the plane nor when it took off, nothing, I don't remember anything," said journalist Javier Díaz.
"They told me at the Calixto García what had happened to me. They didn't tell me who I was with, because I didn't know either. I had a blackout and couldn't remember anything, not even who I was on the plane with," he detailed.
Mailén and her husband Jean Michel López Salinas hadn't even purchased their tickets in advance: they sorted it out the same day at the airport.
She was the only survivor among the 113 occupants of the flight, but with serious physical consequences: she became paraplegic, suffered burns, and had her left leg amputated at the knee.
Eight years later, she claims that her spinal injury “has improved a lot,” although she still needs a prosthesis, medical supplies, and basic items like a catheter. Journalist Javier Díaz shared her contact number (+53 5 6000284) for those who wish to help her.
The young woman does not shy away from the demand for accountability. The official investigation concluded that the most likely cause of the incident was a chain of human errors by the crew in the weight and balance calculations. The flight was operated by the Mexican airline Global Air under a lease agreement with Cubana de Aviación.
"Those who made a mistake and have caused so many families to suffer must pay, that’s the truth," she stated firmly.
Your complaint comes after a Mexican federal judge condemned Global Air to pay 7.1 million dollars to the families of four deceased crew members, in the first definitive civil ruling connected to the disaster. For the first time officially, it was established that the incident was not an unforeseen event, but rather the result of serious negligence. However, the airline has been undergoing bankruptcy proceedings since 2024, and the Cuban regime has not provided the documents requested by the Mexican Prosecutor's Office to advance the criminal investigation.
Despite everything, Mailén has built a new life marked by faith. She married in March 2022, began a bachelor's degree in Theology at the Methodist Seminary of Havana last September, and flew on a plane again in August 2022, on a flight to Cancun.
"It was about getting back on a plane and breaking through that barrier. That day, I broke through that barrier," he recalled days ago.
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