HAVANA, August 10 (Jesús Zúñiga) – Yesterday, the Civil Aeronautics Institute of Cuba reported that on August 7, a Cuban AN-24 on a charter flight Havana – Varadero Beach – Santiago de Cuba, experienced difficulties lowering its landing gear at Varadero and
returned to Havana to land. "Given the expertise and presence of mind of the flight crew, there were no casualties," said the official communiqué. The plane carried 5 crew and 35 passengers.
Yet an engineer who used to work for the airline said here that aircraft flown by Cubana de Aviación, the Cuban state airline, routinely operate "in violation of safety standards, with maintenance problems and without the required emergency equipment."
In a statement yesterday, the aviation specialist, who asked to be identified only as "Alejandro," warned about the accident risk of Cuban aircraft "which often take off in violation of safety regulations because of the scarcity of replacement parts."
According to the Civil Aeronautics Institute of Cuba, Cubana de Aviación has only had one accident and no fatalities in the last four-and-a-half years. Yet records at www.airsafe.com show the following mishaps involving Cubana airplanes in that period:
1. On July 11, 1997, a Cubana Antonov 24 crashed into the sea after takeoff from Santiago de Cuba on a flight to Havana. Five crew members and 39 passengers were killed.
2. On August 29, 1998, a Cubana Tupolev 154M crashed into a soccer field after takeoff from Quito, Ecuador on a flight to Guayaquil. 69 from among the crew and passengers and nine on the ground were killed.
3. On December 21, 1999, a Cubana DC-10-30 overran the runway in Guatemala City and came to rest against a building. Eight crew members, nine passengers and nine on the ground were killed.
4. On December 25, 1999, a Cubana Yak 42 on approach to Valencia, Venezuela on a flight from Havana struck the ground about 10 miles short of the airport. All 12 crew members and 10 passengers were killed.
In addition to aging Russian aircraft, mostly long range IL-62s and short range Antonovs and Yaks, Cubana flies seven DC-10s leased from French airline AOM. Alejandro said that out of 44 planes in the fleet, only 24 are operational, while the rest are cannibalized for parts.
"The Aviation Engineering Administration authorizes the planes to take off in violation of safety rules because there is no spare plane and the tickets have been sold," said Alejandro.
Versión original en español
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