Columbia accident shows sometimes miracles do happen

The San Andres, Columbia crash that took place on Monday resulted in only a single death. The plane hit the ground just before landing. Lightning striking the aircraft is believed to be the reason for the accident, but it isn’t confirmed yet. The plane fragmented, but did not damage any buildings and had only one death which occurred following the crash. The avoidance of loss of life within the crash and the wreckage being confined to the concourse has been attributed to the skill of the pilot.

Boeing 737 breaks apart on runway

The flight to San Andres from Bogota was a red eye flight. As AIRES Flight 8250 approached the runway in bad weather, the plane began to shake. The plane started to split apart when the pilot began an emergency landing just short of the runway. Authorities initially credited a down draft as the cause, though others including eyewitnesses attribute a lightning strike on the plane as the cause, according to CNN. The pilot of the flight also holds the plane was hit by lightning. The plane initially broke into two pieces at Gustavo Rojas Pinillo airport. No damage occurred conserve for the plane.

All survived but one

As outlined by Bloomberg, the only fatality was a 65 year old passenger who had a heart attack after the crash. Six people came out of the crash entirely unscathed. The rest of the passengers and crew suffered injuries, and they’re all expected to recuperate. At least 127 individuals were aboard the plane.

Pilot made all the difference

You would be hard pressed to discover a group of people better trained and skilled than professional pilots. These people are trained to not only steer very complicated machines in very precise trajectories over thousands of miles but also to know how to deal with one in case things go wrong. The job affords little wiggle room and there is tremendous pressure involved within the job. The air travel trade has lots of stress and responsibility involved, and many have watched the Steven Slater saga unfold. The pilot of AIRES Flight 8250 is a hero.

Further reading

CNN

cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/16/colombia.plane.fatality/?hpt=T1#fbid=QdDzKvaTDgY and wom=false

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-16/colombia-plane-splits-in-three-killing-1-and-injuring-114-el-tiempo-says.html