Only one person passed away in the recent San Andres, Columbia crash. The plane hit the ground just before landing. The cause of the accident isn’t entirely certain, but it seems to be a lightning strike. Only one death resulted from the crash after it was all over, and also the crash itself did no damage to anything other than the plane. The avoidance of loss of life within the crash and the wreckage being confined to the concourse has been attributed to the skill of the pilot.
Boeing 737 breaks apart on runway
The flight was a red-eye from Bogota to San Andres. The plane approached the airport in bad weather and began to violently shake as AIRES Flight 8250 approached the runway. As the plane descended, the pilot began an emergency landing just short of the runway when it started to fragment on landing. Authorities initially credited a down draft as the cause, though others including eyewitnesses attribute a lightning strike on the plane as the cause, as outlined by CNN. The pilot also contends that lightning struck the plane. The plane initially broke into two pieces at Gustavo Rojas Pinillo airport. No damage was caused to the airport.
All walked away but one
A single fatality occurred, when a 65-year-old passenger had a heart attack after the crash, according to Bloomberg. Six people came out of the accident completely unscathed. The rest of passengers and crew had injuries, but nobody is not expected for making a full recovery. The plane was carrying at least 127 passengers and crew members.
Proof of skill of the pilot
You would be hard pressed to find a group of people better trained and skilled than professional pilots. Not only do they have to navigate a very complex machine through a very precise trajectory, they also have to know exactly what to do when things go wrong. Their knowledge makes them very valuable and they work under tremendous pressure. Flight attendants are also, if the overnight sensation Steven Slater is any sort of indicator of the pressures involved in the air travel trade. The pilot of AIRES Flight 8250 should be hailed as a hero.
CNN
cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/16/colombia.plane.fatality/?hpt=T1#fbid=QdDzKvaTDgY and wom=false
Bloomberg
bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-16/colombia-plane-splits-in-three-killing-1-and-injuring-114-el-tiempo-says.html
