Safety

Five or More Survive Peruvian Twin Otter Crash

By Monte Hayes, Associated Press Writer

posted: 25 May 2007 02:40 pm ET

: Various civil and military operators throughout Latin America, including long-established Chilean flag carrier LAN, have operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, often on routes serving remote communities in hard-to-reach areas. The Peruvian Air Force Twin Otter that crashed in a storm on the evening of May 24 was operating this kind of service. Credit: Bombardier Inc

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A government flight that linked Peru's isolated jungle communities crashed in a storm, officials said, and at least five survivors among the 20 people on board were rescued Friday after helicopters spotted a fire they had set.

The Twin Otter plane piloted by a three-man air force crew and carrying 17 civilian passengers was declared missing Thursday evening after leaving Orellana, some 360 miles northeast of Lima, the Defense Ministry said.

An air force spokeswoman told The Associated Press there were "between five and seven survivors." She spoke on condition that she not be identified by name.

She said one of the survivors, a woman, was being taken by helicopter to a hospital.

Julio Barrientos, a government prosecutor in the Ucayali region, where the plane went down, told Radioprogramas, Lima's top radio news station, that rescue helicopters spotted a fire set by the survivors in a jungle clearing. He said there was at least one survivor.

The plane was part of the air force's civic action flights that connect small communities in the jungle not served by commercial airliners.

Officials in Iquitos, the city 625 miles northeast of Lima where the flight originated, said low clouds and heavy rain were hindering rescue operations.

Norman Lewis del Alcazar, vice president of the Loreto region, whose capital is Iquitos, confirmed that the plane was carrying 17 passengers when it left Orellana in a downpour.