- Title: VENEZUELA: Survivor of plane crash says he will never fly again
- Date: 15th September 2010
- Summary: PUERTO ORDAZ, VENEZUELA (SEPTEMBER 14, 2010) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF EXTERIOR OF UNARE HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF UNARE HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF PASSENGER PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR IVON FAYOLA WITH FAMILY MEMBERS (3 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PASSENGER PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR IVON FAYOLA SAYING: "It started going like this (motions with hands), it would drop then go up, but I never thought it was an emergency, I wasn't going to be frightened over that. I thought of it as something normal but after a few minutes I felt a boom. The plane was falling and then I saw everything burning and everything destroyed inside and I felt a very strong, very strong force that made me move a lot. I tell the world I left that plane crawling, it was on fire. There were many people asking for help. I thank God that I was able to get out, both me and my husband Luis Flores. We are the ones who can speak to the media and give thanks to God for life because I know that there were a lot of things happening and many of my fellow passengers burned to death." GENERAL VIEW OF SURVIVOR IVON FAYOLA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PASSENGER PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR IVON FAYOLA SAYING: "After I got out of the plane and saw all of those people, the very few that managed to get, we were five who were able to get out. Two of them were me and my husband. The others were burned but they managed to get out. I raised my hands to the sky and I spoke with God, I thanked God first for my and my husband's life. I will never get on a plane again." FAYOLA WITH FAMILY MEMBERS INTERIOR OF UNARE HOSPITAL
- Embargoed: 30th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVA8LIVHCXIU1PFKX2MDHFB4BUZV
- Story Text: Venezuelan national Ivon Fayola swore on Tuesday (September 14) she would never board another plane again after giving a harrowing account of a passenger plane crash near the Orinico River and that killed 15 people.
Sitting in the hospital surrounded by her family, Fayola described the accident, saying the flight started off normally but within minutes, the plane was plunging towards the ground while burning.
"It would drop then go up, but I never thought it was an emergency, I wasn't going to be frightened over that. I thought of it as something normal but after a few minutes I felt a boom. The plane was falling and then I saw everything burning and everything destroyed inside and I felt a very strong very strong force that made me move a lot," Fayola said.
She went on to say that she, her husband Luis and three more people managed to walk away from the site and could hear others crying for help.
"I tell the world I left that plane crawling, it was on fire," she said.
The death toll of the crash stands at 15 on Tuesday (September 14) while anxious family members awaited news on their injured relatives. Venezuelan authorities continued scouring over the wreckage as part of ongoing investigation.
The turboprop plane with 51 passengers and crew on board crashed into the yard of a steel mill in southern Venezuela near the Orinoco River.
Authorities said 36 survivors were pulled from the wreckage of the French-built ATR-42 plane owned by Venezuela's state-run airline Conviasa.
The plane was flying from the Caribbean island of Margarita to the southern industrial city Puerto Ordaz when it came down near the gates of the vast Sidor mill.
For Fayola, that flight will be her last.
"I raised my hands to the sky and I spoke with God, I thanked God first for my and my husband's life," she said.
She added: "I will never get on a plane again."
According to aviation officials, the pilot had radioed in a mayday signal seconds before the plane crashed.
ATR, which makes 40-70 seat twin-engined turboprops, is a joint venture between Airbus parent company EADS and Italian aerospace group Finmeccanica.
French aviation investigators were due to arrive in Venezuela to visit the crash site later this week.
In the last major crash in Venezuela in 2008, another ATR-42 belonging to private local airline Santa Barbara with 46 passengers on board crashed into mountains, with no survivors. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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