Investigators Probe Cause of Plane Accident in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY — Experts began investigating Tuesday what caused a Salvadoran jetliner to skid off a rain-slickened runway and plow into homes in a poor neighborhood, officials said.

Investigators from El Salvador, Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration arrived to join Guatemalan experts after TACA airlines flight 510 from San Salvador to Los Angeles overran a runway Monday evening during a stopover.

All 215 passengers and 11 crew on the Boeing 767-200 escaped with only minor injuries. Five passengers and four people on the ground were treated at a local hospital.

Two homes were destroyed and two others damaged when the jet struck the Santa Fe and La Libertad neighborhood on the edge of Guatemala City’s international airport.

The plane barreled down a hill into a poor neighborhood, smashing through one cinderblock house before coming to rest atop another, its left wing apparently clipped near the tip and its nose drooping to the ground.

“It touched down, the thrust reversers deployed, then apparently there was some difficulty by the flight crew in bringing the plane to a stop,” Boeing spokesman Mark Hooper said in Seattle.

“It went off the left side of the runway and hit some housing.”

Airport officials would not comment on what caused the crash. “We must wait for the results of the investigations to determine the reasons for the accident,” said Dr. Enrique Borgo Bustamente, director of TACA Airlines.

But a TACA press release said rain may have contributed, adding that quick thinking by Capt. Miguel Call avoided more serious injuries and damages.

Passengers told firemen they had clapped as the wheels touched down, believing the plane was landing correctly, only to find it overrunning the airstrip.

There was no fire, but fireman who helped evacuate the passengers spread foam because part of its 34,000-gallon load of fuel had spilled.

The plane’s flight recorder, which keeps a record of flights, remains intact, and FAA experts will examine its contents.

The flight was to have continued to Los Angeles, and several U.S. citizens were on board. Three of the injured were residents of Los Angeles. A hospital official gave their names as John Dawson, Jorge Giron and Salvador Mendoza.