Cuba Plane Crash: Three Survivors In Country's Worst Air Disaster In Decades
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The only three survivors of a plane crash in Cuba remained in grave condition Saturday as investigators tried to determine why an aging Boeing 737 carrying 110 people went down and erupted in flames shortly after takeoff in Havana. It was Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades and its third major air accident since 2010.
Skies were overcast and rainy at the airport at the time of Friday's disaster and Cuban state television said the 39-year-old jet veered sharply to the right after departing on a domestic flight to the eastern city of Holguin.
"The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena said at the airport.
The screams of high school kids could be heard inside a nearby school as they ran to safety, CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez reported.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to find the cause of the crash. The plane had 104 mainly Cuban passengers and six crew members.
"Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified," he said.
State airline Cubana, which operated the flight, has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies.
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