RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Rescue workers searched late Friday for signs of a plane carrying 19 people that disappeared from radar screens near Rio de Janeiro, civil defense officials said.
The small double-propeller plane belonging to the local Team airline went missing after leaving the city of Macae, 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro, said Roni Alberto de Azevedo, a spokesman with the Rio de Janeiro State Civil Defense Department.
The plane was carrying 17 passengers and two crew members.
Local media said rural workers in a mountainous region between Macae and Rio de Janeiro reported hearing an explosion after a plane flew very low overhead.
Brazilian airport authority Infraero said the plane -- a LET 410 model -- disappeared near Saquarema, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Rio.
Authorities said the plane left Macae 5:19 p.m. local time and was expected to less than an hour later at Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont international airport.
Several rescue workers were dispatched to the region, but no signs of the wreckage had been found by 11:30 p.m. local time.
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12027 posts, RR: 43 Reply 2, posted (7 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 1870 times:
MEA-707 From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4117 posts, RR: 37 Reply 4, posted (7 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 1792 times:
Quoting MajorNelson (Reply 3): Gee, another Russian plane falling out of the sky. Shocking!
Last time I checked, Czechia (former Czechoslovakia) was an independent country in central Europe, especially at the time this airframe was manufactured (1991).
You DO have a point though as the Let is generally seen as a product of the former "non western" countries, just like China etc, and, together with other prop aircraft with a similar background, like the Antonov 24, have an apalling safety record lately. I think the aircraft are adequate but the figures are influenced because these airframes can be picked up cheaply by small airlines in less developed countries (think of Congo) with little safety management.
nobody has ever died from hard work, but why take the risk?
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