Ice on wings caused West Caribbean crash, company says

Monday,  November 28, 2005

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AFP): Bad weather and ice on the wings caused the August 16 crash of a West Caribbean aircraft in Venezuela, which killed all 160 on board, a West Caribbean official told a local newspaper Sunday.

"The report shows that it was an accident. The aircraft was not in bad repair as the media has insistently reported," West Caribbean director Jorge Perez told El Colombiano newspaper.

"The accident was caused by weather conditions, the loss of control due to an excess of ice on the wings," Perez said.

The newspaper also said that a report by the US National Transportation Safety Board on the crash also noted that the pilots had discussed the bad weather and possibility of icing before the crash.

The crash of the twin-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft on a flight from Panama to Martinique killed 152 French passengers from Martinique and eight crew from Colombia.

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