ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BUGA, COLOMBIA
SOURCE: Associated Press
At least six people were alive Thursday after an American Airlines jet with 164 aboard smashed into an Andean mountain crest and burst into flames. It was the world's worst plane crash this year.
Human remains and bits of mangled machinery covered the one-mile area where the plane from Miami went down Wednesday night in Buga, 40 miles and four minutes from Cali, its destination.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
The Boeing 757 lost radio contact at about 9:45 p.m. EST Wednesday, and the first reports by the airline and Colombian officials said there were no survivors.
But after rescuers made their way to the site early Thursday, braving darkness, rocky terrain and the threat of leftist guerrillas, news of the living came through. One survivor spoke to a television crew as rescue workers attended him.
``Really, I don't remember any problem with the plane, but when I woke up accident,'' Gonzalo Dussan, one of the survivors, told Noticiero 24 Horas as rescue workers attended to him.
By late Thursday afternoon, the Red Cross in Cali said eight people had been taken from the wreckage alive; one, a man, died at a hospital five hours later. But RCN radio later reported only seven people had been taken from the crash, six of whom have survived.
Mauricio Reyes, a 19-year-old Colombian business student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, was recovering at a Cali hospital Thursday, covered with cuts and bruises, breathing through an oxygen mask.
His brother, Andres Reyes, hugged relatives when they learned Mauricio was alive.
``After all I've cried, what incredible joy,'' he said.
The others, identified by RCN radio, were Dussan's son and daughter Gonzalo and Michelle, and two women named Nancy Delgado and Mercedes Ramirez.
Ramirez, 21, is a student at Northwest Missouri State University. She was traveling with her parents, who are presumed dead, said Stacy Dowling, Ramirez's roommate.
American Airlines said the plane carried 156 passengers, four of them infants, and eight crew members. It was not immediately clear how many Americans were aboard.
The crew included Capt. Nicholas Tafuri, 57, of Marco Island, Fla., and First Officer Don Williams, 39, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Among the passengers were Paris Kanellakis, a Brown University computer science professor, and his wife and two children. Also believed aboard were the son, daughter-in-law and grandchild of former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre.
The airline said it would not release a full passenger list until relatives were notified. It did not say how long that would take.
So the families waited.
At the Cali airport, relatives clung to each other and cried. Some reportedly fainted. About a dozen relatives waited at a military base in Buga, where rescuers had brought some survivors.
``I'll stay here as long as it takes,'' said Jaime Bonilla, whose sister was on the flight. ``I'm going to wait to see the body for myself.''
Alvaro Cala, director of Colombian civil aviation, told RCN radio the plane was 13 miles east of its flight plan. He said the plane would have landed in Cali in four minutes had it not crashed.
Bob Crandall, American Airlines' chief executive officer, said there were no reports of bad weather and that the flight crew knew the terrain.
Initial reports from civil defense authorities indicate the plane hit one side of the crest and slid over, suggesting the pilot was descending with the plane's nose up, as if reacting to imminent danger.
``I saw only pieces where the plane crashed and clothing hanging from the trees. There were no bodies left at all,'' farmer Pedro Rosana told RCN Radio. Rosana, who walked three hours to the site Wednesday night, said the largest chunk of plane he saw was 6 feet long.
The crash was perhaps the deadliest involving a U.S. airliner since a Pan Am flight went down over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 - seven years ago Thursday. That crash, blamed on terrorists, killed 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground.
Rescue officials' arrival at the crash site was delayed by darkness and the mountainous terrain - and by the danger of rebels.
Most of the passengers were reportedly Colombians traveling to see their families for the holidays in Cali, home to 2 million people.
In Miami, the FBI said an unsigned letter was faxed Monday to The Miami Herald and The New York Times warning of bomb attacks against flights from Venezuela and Colombia.
FBI spokesman Paul Miller said there was no reason to believe the letter was linked to Wednesday's crash, which originated in Miami. Still, the National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigative team that included an expert on explosions and fires.
The Boeing 757-200 is a twin-engine, medium- to long-range jetliner that can carry up to 239 passengers.
In Seattle, Boeing spokesman Bill Curry said this was the first crash involving a 757. ``All of our thoughts are with families and friends of the passengers now.''
Curry said the company was sending a team - including an investigator, a pilot and an aircraft structure expert - from Seattle.
Investigators from the FBI, the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration also were headed to the scene.BUGA, Colombia - The first reports were as devastating as the accident - no survivors.
When the American Airlines jet smashed into an Andean mountain crest and exploded, all 164 people on board were presumed dead. But as rescue workers made their way to the site early Thursday, braving darkness, rocky terrain and the threat of leftist guerrillas, the unexpected news came: At least six people lived.
Human remains and bits of mangled machinery covered a one-mile area where the plane from Miami went down in Buga, 40 miles and four minutes away from its destination in the Colombian city Cali.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
At the scene, golf clubs, tennis shoes and a small plastic statue of the Virgin Mary sat in a pile. Rescue workers made other piles for passports and identification cards. One survivor spoke to a television crew as rescue workers attended him.
``Really, I don't remember any problem with the plane, but when I woke up accident,'' Gonzalo Dussan, one of the survivors, told Noticiero 24 Horas as rescue workers attended to him.
By late Thursday afternoon, the Red Cross in Cali said eight people had been taken from the wreckage alive; one, a man, died at a hospital five hours later. But RCN radio later reported only seven people had been taken from the crash, six of whom have survived.
Mauricio Reyes, a 19-year-old Colombian business student at the University of Michigan, was recovering at a Cali hospital Thursday, covered with cuts and bruises, breathing through an oxygen mask.
His brother, Andres Reyes, hugged relatives when they learned Mauricio was alive.
``After all I've cried, what incredible joy,'' he said.
The others, identified by RCN radio, were Dussan's son and daughter Gonzalo and Michel, and two women named Nancy Delgado and Mercedes Ramirez.
American Airlines said the plane carried 156 passengers, four of them infants, and eight crew members. It was not immediately clear how many Americans were aboard.
The crew included Capt. Nicholas Tafuri, 57, of Marco Island, Fla., and First Officer Don Williams, 39, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Among the passengers were Paris Kanellakis, a Brown University computer science professor, and his wife and two children. Also believed aboard were the son, daughter-in-law and grandchild of former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre.
The airline said it would not release a full passenger list until
relatives were notified. It did not say how long that would take.
So the families waited.
At the Cali airport, relatives clung to each other and cried. Some reportedly fainted. About a dozen relatives waited at a military base in Buga, where rescuers had brought some survivors.
``I'll stay here as long as it takes,'' said Jaime Bonilla, whose sister was on the flight. ``I'm going to wait to see the body for myself.''
Alvaro Cala, director of Colombian civil aviation, told RCN radio the plane was 13 miles east of its flight plan. He said the plane would have landed in Cali in four minutes had it not crashed.
Bob Crandall, American Airlines' chief executive officer, said there were no reports of bad weather and that the flight crew knew the terrain.
Initial reports from civil defense authorities indicate the plane hit one side of the crest and slid over, suggesting the pilot was descending with the plane's nose up, as if reacting to imminent danger.
``I saw only pieces where the plane crashed and clothing hanging from the trees. There were no bodies left at all,'' farmer Pedro Rosana told RCN Radio. Rosana, who walked three hours to the site Wednesday night, said the largest chunk of plane he saw was 6 feet long.
The crash was perhaps the deadliest involving a U.S. airliner since a Pan Am flight went down over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 - seven years ago Thursday. That crash, blamed on terrorists, killed 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground.
Rescue officials' arrival at the crash site was delayed by darkness and the mountainous terrain - and by the danger of rebels. A police spokesman in Buga, Ricardo Canizales, described the region as a ``hot zone,'' or headquarters for leftist guerrillas.
Most of the passengers were reportedly Colombians traveling to see their families for the holidays in Cali, home to 2 million people.
In Miami, the FBI said an unsigned letter was faxed Monday to The Miami Herald and The New York Times warning of bomb attacks against flights from Venezuela and Colombia.
FBI spokesman Paul Miller said there was no reason to believe the letter was linked to Wednesday's crash, which originated in Miami. Still, the National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigative team that included an expert on explosions and fires.
The Boeing 757-200 is a twin-engine, medium- to long-range jetliner that can carry up to 239 passengers. First flown in 1982, it has a range of 3,200 miles.
Crandall said the airplane, which had Rolls-Royce engines, was delivered new in August 1991. It had an extensive maintenance check in January and a less complete one last month.
In Seattle, Boeing spokesman Bill Curry said this was the first crash involving a 757. ``All of our thoughts are with families and friends of the passengers now.''
LENGTH: Long : 191 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. A man lifts a piece of debris Thursday from theby CNBAmerican Airlines plane that crashed Wednesday near Buga, Colombia.
color. Graphici: Map by AP. KEYWORDS: FATALITY