Posted on 05/30/2008 12:27:12 PM PDT by Moose4
A Grupo TACA airplane overshot a runway and slammed to a stop on a city street Friday in the Honduran capital, leaving a pilot and a passenger dead and injuring several others.
Television images showed the plane's fuselage buckled and broken apart in places. The cockpit was smashed under a billboard, and firefighters hosed down at least two cars trapped under the Airbus 320's left engine.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
}:-)4
Ping for the aviation list.
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TACA (which I call CACA) is the worst airline I ever flew on. Their business is run by idiots, during the flight the toilet overflowed all over the floor up and down the aisles, and the flight was so bad the passengers were wondering if we were going to land alive. The landing was very hard.
If at all possible, avoid TACA like the plague.
is this the airport form the list of ‘10 most dangerous’ posted earlier on FR?
I don’t remember, but if it didn’t make that list, it should. American actually flies 757s in there (the largest aircraft that use Toncontin) and there’s some pretty spectacular footage of their approaches on Youtube.
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In the ‘86-’89 time frame, I used to fly TACA into that airport a lot. Very steep descent into the field. Our nickname for TACA was “Take A Chance Airline” or “Take a Coffin Along”.
I can’t explain it — but for some reason, I always had more confidence in all aspects of being in Hondurus, over every other Central/South American location, with the possible exception of Costa Rica.
Interesting lineup.
RIP.
I’ve flown into that airport a few times, and it’s a hair raising experience even as a passenger. There is a hard bank left and it seems like you are barely missing the houses. It’s a lot of fun as long as it turns out ok.
Janneth Shantall, the wife of Brazilian Ambassador Brian Michael Fraser Neele, was also killed in the crash, an employee of the Brazilian embassy told local media. That employee, Dennis Hernandez, said the ambassador was also aboard the plane and was injured. Hernandez said he didn’t know the ambassador’s condition
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Seven people died and more than 80 were injured when a commercial airliner overshot the runway and traveled into an adjoining street, where it crushed three vehicles and cracked into three sections before coming to a halt a few feet from a house, officials said. The Grupo Taca Airbus 320 was trying to land with 124 people on board when it overshot the runway. Its nose smashed into an embankment and its fuselage buckled and broke in places, trapping the pilot and co-pilot inside.
Rescuers had to pry open part of the wreckage to get them out, but the pilot didn't survive, said Cesar Villalta, director of Honduras' military hospital.
Passenger Harry Brautigam, a Nicaraguan who headed a regional development bank, died of heart failure shortly after the crash. The body of a man trapped under the plane's wreckage was believed to be a taxi driver.
Janneth Shantall, the wife of Brazilian Ambassador Brian Michael Fraser Neele, was also killed in the crash, an employee of the Brazilian embassy told local media. That employee, Dennis Hernandez, said the ambassador was also aboard the plane and was injured. Hernandez said he didn't know the ambassador's condition.
More than 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of fuel spilled out of the jet, and authorities tried to clear away hundreds of onlookers while they hosed down cars trapped under the plane's left engine.
"The airplane's fuel could cause an explosion, and that would be an even bigger tragedy," Security Ministry spokesman Ivan Mejia said.
Many passengers walked away from the accident.
Roberto Sosa, 34, told The Associated Press: "We landed ... and suddenly I heard a really strong, loud impact."
Mirtila Lopez, 71, said she was talking to another passenger when the plane "left the runway, hit electric cables from a nearby street and then got stuck in the side of a small ravine." There have been calls for years to replace aging Toncontin International Airport, whose short runway, primitive navigation equipment and neighboring hills make it one of the world's more dangerous international airports.
The airport was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 5,300 feet (1,600 meters) long -- shorter than that of a small field such as Municipal Airport in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
The altitude of some 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) forces pilots to use more runway on landings and takeoffs than they would at sea level. And because of the hills, pilots have to make an unusually steep approach.
President Manuel Zelaya said he was talking to his Cabinet about moving flights to the U.S. military's Soto Cano air base about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of the capital.
In 1997, a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane overshot the runway at Toncontin and rolled 200 yards (180 meters) before bursting into flames on a major boulevard, killing three people aboard.
The worst crash associated with the airport came in 1989 when a Honduran airliner hit a nearby hill, killing 133 people.
my old stomping grounds.....never liked thet airport either
Hong Kong (old) not good either
Bogota
Cuzco, Quito, Guat City, Caracas Downtown strip, St Martin, St Barts...forget it, Amsterdam..fog,
all not my favs
Tegucigalpa means something like Silver Mountain, which might have something to do with the kind of terrain this place is in.
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