2008 Mexico City plane crash

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2008 Mexico City Interior Ministry plane crash

Cordoned-off crash site with burned buildings in background, with Mexican Police guarding the area
Accident summary
Date	November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04)
Site	Las Lomas, Mexico City
Passengers	5
Crew	3
Injuries	40 bystanders seriously injured[1] 1,200 residents evacuated[1] 30 cars destroyed[2]
Fatalities	16 (all 9 on board plus 7 on ground) [3]
Survivors	0[2]
Aircraft type	Learjet 45
Operator	Secretaría de Gobernación
Tail number	XC-VMC
Flight origin	Ponciano Arriaga International Airport, San Luis Potosí, S.L.P.
Destination	Mexico City International Airport

An official Mexican Interior Ministry aircraft crashed in central Mexico City at around 18:45 local time on November 4, 2008. Mexican Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño,^[4] who was aboard the plane, was killed in the crash, along with the other seven people on board and at least six people on the ground.^[5]

The plane crashed in rush-hour traffic close to the crossing of Paseo de la Reforma and the Anillo Periférico, in the upscale Las Lomas residential and business district.

Contents 1 Details 2 Deaths 3 Government response 4 Results of Investigation 5 Government Criticism 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Details

The Interior Secretariat-owned Learjet 45 (registration XC-VMC) left Ponciano Arriaga International Airport in San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., and was 12 km^[6] short of landing at Mexico City International Airport when it crashed amidst rush hour traffic into the ground in the heart of the financial district at approximately 18:45 due to currently unknown reasons,^[7] causing an explosion that "reached higher than the buildings."^[8] According to Secretary of Communications and Transport Luis Téllez, there were no survivors.^[9] Téllez also stated that the crash appeared to be an accident.^[10]

The crash heavily damaged the surrounding area, setting multiple cars and a newsstand on fire^[2] and injuring at least 40 people. Body parts were reported to be scattered around the wreckage.^[11]

A joint investigation between Mexican and American experts is currently taking place.^[6] Audio and video transcripts show that the aircraft was instructed to reduce speed three miles (5 km) before entering the approach, and later show that it complied with instructions a minute and 12 seconds later.^[6] The aircraft dove into the ground without having given any sort of distress call.^[6] Hence, dialogue with air control was brief, and the pilot's possibilities to react to the emergency are thought to have been quite limited.^[6] Mexican air traffic officers have published that wake turbulence, left behind by a Mexicana Boeing 767 ahead of the Learjet, possibly affected the crashed aircraft.^[12] At 12 km from touchdown on a common approach slope, the aircraft should have been about 630 meters above the terrain.

[edit] Deaths

Among the dead was Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño, top aide to President Felipe Calderón.^[13] Mouriño was in charge of the fight against the drug trade in Mexico.^[11]

Also on the plane were:

• José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, former assistant attorney general and current head of the federal technical secretariat for implementing the recent constitutional reforms on criminal justice and public security.
• Miguel Monterrubio, director general of social communications with the Interior Secretariat.
• Arcadio Echeverría, coordinator of special events, office of the Interior Secretary.
• Norma Díaz, director in the communications department of the Interior Secretariat.
• Julio César Ramírez Dávalos, pilot.
• Álvaro Sánchez, co-pilot.
• Gisel Carrillo, stewardess.^[14]

[edit] Government response

President Felipe Calderón addressed the nation live on national television. He spoke of Mouriño as "one of his closest friends and collaborators" and conveyed his condolences to the family.^[15] He stated that Mouriño was a man "who always fought to make Mexico a better country" and he guaranteed the nation that there would be an investigation on the causes behind the plane crash. Calderón encouraged Mexican men and women to continue fighting for a better country, "no matter how difficult or painful any rising event may be".^[15]

Marcelo Ebrard, Head of Government of the Federal District, also conveyed his condolences to the family of the Secretary of Interior and assured that Mexico City's government would issue a statement to the nation regarding the issue.^[16] Ebrard later said that the Mexico City government would give financial aid to all of the injured receiving medical care, irrespective of whether they had been admitted to private or public hospitals, and he stated that the local authorities had handed over all recordings taken by surveillance video cameras to the federal attorney general (PGR),^[17] along with all witness accounts that local police were able to gather.

Several other political figures have made statements regarding the crash, including various senators from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)^[18] and Germán Martínez, leader of the ruling National Action Party (PAN).^[19]

A group of senators – from different political parties – have asked the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) to investigate the accident so that all doubts and inquiries on the event may be cleared.^[20]

[edit] Results of Investigation

The black boxes were sent to the United States for analysis. Information gathered from 38 minutes of cabin conversations, along with video footage from a security camera on top of the Omega Office Building, provided evidence for an official statement by the Mexican Government that the crash was the result of pilot error. The Learjet was ruled to have been following too close to a Boeing 767-300 jet operated by Mexicana Airlines, and therefore suffered violent wake turbulence caused by the larger jet. The minimum allowable distance for a lighter plane to follow behind a heavier plane is 5 nautical miles (9.3 km); the Learjet 45 was only 4.1 nautical miles (7.6 km) behind the Mexicana Airplane.

Investigations into the accident have discovered several issues with the Mexican Government's use of private contractors as pilots of government aircraft, especially important in cases such as this, when the passengers are high level officials. Aviación Ejecutiva SA de CV is a company out of Toluca Mexico, which currently holds the contract with the Mexican Federal government to provide services of maintenance and pilots for the Federal airline fleet.

Benito Juarez Airport restricts light general aviation, which typically flies from Toluca International Airport. Only some government areas handle small and medium planes from facilities in Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport.

Several key elements of the accident have emerged during the investigation:

• The flight crew appears to have had little experience in operation of the LearJet 45, and an investigation concerning how they received their certification is currently underway.
• Conversation among the flight crew indicates they had little familiarity with the operation of the plane, failing on several occasions to enter the proper information into the cockpit instruments; they did not follow a proper flight plan, and had navigational difficulties, missing their original arrival to San Luis Potosi by over 250 nautical miles (460 km). Further it was stated that their in flight conversations were more of the nature of 2 people driving a car, not of trained pilots following a proper flight plan.
• The flight crew waited over 1.3 minutes to follow the order from air traffic control to reduce their velocity. The Learjet 45 had been traveling at 262 knots (485 km/h), while the Mexicana 767-300 was flying at 185 knots (343 km/h), which caused the Learjet 45 to get too close to the 767-300. The accident happened during peak hour at the airport with heavy air traffic; this has brought criticism from top government officials as to their handling and scheduling of risky flight plans for top government officials.
• The accident happened just at the point where aircraft entering Mexico City traveling on a 160º course (south-southeast) make a sharp left turn to align with the runways of Benito Juarez International Airport, at 52º (northeast). When the Learjet 45 reached the turning point, too close behind the Mexicana 767-300, it encountered violent wake turbulence, causing the plane to invert into a nose down attitude. At this point, the plane would have been flying at 9,000 feet (2,700 m) MSL, which is about 1700 ft (500 m) over the ground.
• The flight crew was unable regain control due to airspeed, inverted nose-down position, and insufficient altitude. The flight crew did manage to reduce the angle of descent from 45 to 40 degrees before hitting the ground at over 300 miles per hour (480 km/h).

[edit] Government Criticism

Top officials have questioned the government's handling of the security of its top officials, and seriously criticized President Felipe Calderón's administration in stating that, "No country in the civilized world sends 2 top officials traveling in the same plane."

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official message from President Calderón
• Muere Mouriño en accidente aéreo Special coverage section from El Universal
• Official reports from the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation regarding the accident
• Official reports from the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation regarding the accident
• Diálogo de los pilotos del Lear Jet 45 (Spanish)
• Government responsible to validate pilots of learjet.
• Air turbulence likely caused government crash.
• Its is confirmed by authorities that SG had responsibility for control.
• Political parties leaders say that the country has been put at risk by improper security measures taken for protection of top officials who died in plane crash.

Coordinates: 19°25′35″N 99°12′13″W / 19.42639°N 99.20361°W / 19.42639; -99.20361