Word: avianca
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Every frequent flyer knows the frustration of circling interminably in bad weather, often bouncing in turbulence and unable to see much beyond the murk outside the windows. After the crash of Avianca Flight 52, which killed 73 passengers just 15 miles short of New York's Kennedy International Airport on Jan. 25, travelers have a disturbing new question to ponder while they wait: Is the plane running out of fuel...
...Boeing 707 had been delayed fully 89 minutes in various holding patterns on its scheduled five-hour flight from Medellin, Colombia, to New York. Bad weather had stalled 248 other planes heading for Kennedy that day; in the two hours before the Avianca disaster, 33 pilots chose to land at other airports. The Avianca crew reported it did not have enough fuel to reach its designated alternate, Boston. Apparently because of high winds and low clouds, the plane missed its first landing attempt at Kennedy. It crashed on its second approach when all four engines failed, almost certainly for lack...
There is no doubt that the Avianca pilot, a 17-year veteran, knew he had a fuel problem, although it is uncertain if he understood its extent. Investigators are focusing on whether the crew adequately conveyed its concerns to regional air controllers and whether these controllers passed the information on to the local controllers. Tapes reveal that the Avianca crew informed the regional center that its fuel was insufficient to reach Boston, but this information apparently was not relayed in the "hand-off" between controllers. Still, the pilot did not object when the plane was then placed on a routine...
Though the Avianca crash will doubtless make nervous flyers even more jittery, experts say the odds of a similar accident happening are not great. A flow-control system tightened after the 1981 air controllers' strike has reduced circling time near U.S. airports by requiring more weather delays to be spent on the ground. Fuel shortages turn to catastrophe only if crews do not notice or clearly declare their predicament. Said C.O. Miller, former chief aviation-accident investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board: "The Avianca crew apparently failed to recognize or perceive the immensity of the problem." In the aftermath...
Doctors treating survivors of Avianca Flight 52 found a few surprises inside their patients. One turned out to have 29 cocaine-filled packets, each 1 1/4- in. long, in his intestines. The other had swallowed at least two dozen 2- in.-long bags containing cocaine...