Regional Turboprop ATR 42-300 with 46 Aboard Crashes Over Andes

If you've flown on a regional airline using ATR, Embraer, de Havilland, Dornier, SAAB or Fokker airplanes or others, you have some idea of the plane which crashed yesterday evening after takeoff from Alberto Carnevalli Airport in Merida (MRD/SVMD) enroute to Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas, Venezuela. The ATR 42-300 is so named because it carries about 42 passengers depending on configuration, and that full count of passengers as well as crew (a total of 46) were lost as the aircraft, according to the BBC, flew into a rock wall in the mountains surrounding the airport.

AviationSafety.net notes that this is the 18^th loss of this type of aircraft, and the 8^th worst aviation accident in Venezuela. EADS, the European aerospace giant, owns a large portion of ATR and also the European large aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The Merida airport is, says the BBC, notoriously difficult for pilots because it is surrounded by high mountains. Because of this, pilots are given special training. Weather conditions were said to be normal, though mountain flying can involve very complex weather and wind conditions, sometimes rapidly changing, and taking off from a high altitude adds other challenges. No indications of trouble were noted, no distress calls were given, and the accident occurred about six miles from the airport shortly after takeoff.

One note that Wikipedia makes about the ATR 42-300 is that it doesn't contain a separate unit for providing standby power on the ground (APU), but uses one engine with the propeller disengaged. Because of this, part of the maintenance procedures involves switching the engines periodically to balance the operational time on each. Wikipedia also notes that the airplane has an unusual rear entry for passengers instead of the usual front entry common today. The BBC notes that the plane was said to be 20 years old with no history of problems and well maintained, and the pilot had 8 years experience.