Yesterday morning a TACA flight from El Salvador bound for Miami, with a layover in Tegucigalpa (I've actually flow that flight with TACA!), attempted to land at Toncontin International Airport in the rain and fog brought on by Tropical Storm Alma. After passing over the runway several times the pilot finally decided to land and skidded right off the runway, down a hill and came to rest on two cars traveling on the highway below! There have been at least 5 casualties reported, and an unknown number of injuries.
Any of you who have landed in Tegucigalpa know that this airstrip is unsually short! Apparently this same scenario happened 8 years ago and there was talk of closing the airport permanently... obviously that didn't happen. Now, however, the airport has been closed until further notice. All of our groups are now landing in San Pedro Sula and traveling by rental bus to San Marcos. I personally plan on taking all of my flights in and out of Managua (only a 3 hour drive) until this can all be resolved. There is talk of relocating the airport to the US Air Force base outside of Tegucigalpa. We shall see...
I'm still in shock that this could happen! People have told me that the Toncontin runway was dangerous... I never really believed it until now!
...note to self: NEVER fly TACA again!
2 comments:
Makes you wonder if US airlines had cancelled their flights in and out of TGU that day. Not a good airport for bad weather.
My dad, Rich Quinn, is down there right now and this news made my heart skip. I know things are a mess there and he has no idea when he will be returning. When I flew TACA on a trip in high school, we referred to it as Take A Chance Airline. But hey...it beats SASHA. Stay Alive, Stay Home Airline.
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