Argentina 23/05/11

22 killed in Argentina’s worst air crash  since 1999, whilst train operators lose 22% of ticket sales.

Argentina was shaken this week after a plane crash on Wednesday night in which all 22 passengers were killed. The aircraft, a Saab 340 belonging to ‘Sol Airlines’ crashed in the Patagonian province of Rio Negro on a routine flight between Neuquén and Comodoro Rivadavia. Making up the 22 people on board were two pilots, an air hostess and 19 passengers including an infant.

Although the black box has been recovered, aeronautic experts have been hesitant to confirm the reason for the disaster. The Junta de Investigaciones de Accidentes de Aviación Civil (Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Group – JIAAC) are currently analysing the data from the black box, which will include conversations from the cabin and detailed systems analysis.

In the absence of a conclusive report from the JIAAC, speculation surrounding the fate of flight SOL 5428 has been rife. Local authorities in the Rio Negro region have reported the transmission of three emergency calls from the plane regarding freezing water on the wings in which the pilot requested permission to perform an emergency landing.

Aero Lineas Sol, however, has dismissed the claim, maintaining that ‘there is no such information over the causes of the catastrophe’.  What does come clear from aerial photographs of the accident as shown above is that the plane hit the ground at an acute angle, gauging a mark in the ground around 200 metres long – which would corroborate the possibility of a failed crash landing.

The last significant air accident in Argentina was the case of a Boeing 737 aircraft that crashed during take-off on August 31 1999. The Buenos Aires Herald, who ran a cheery article in English this week on the worst air accidents in Argentine history, features a full timeline.

In other news, a report by the Comisión Nacional de Regulación del Tranporte (National Transport Regulation Commision – CNRT) has marked a 22% fall in the number of declared passengers using Argentina’s trains on the same period in 2010.

Their conclusion, however, is not that fewer people are using the services, but that there is a marked increase in passengers travelling without having bought tickets. The shortage of small change, which forces ticket-offices to shut, fewer staff, and efforts to avoid conflicts with frustrated rail users are perceived to contribute to the problem.

It seems that whilst hesitancy within the Central Bank to produce more coinage, and similar reluctance from within the transport sector to invest in upgrading ticketing to a digital card system ‘SUBE’, the problem is set to remain.

Finally, as Hurucan fans watched a miserable season turn worse in prospect of a 2-0 defeat to Estudiantes on Saturday, members of the team’s ‘The Quema Band’ – a barra brava or fan’s organisation – clashed with security. Bringing the game to a premature end, the ruckus saw aggressive repression on the part of the police, who deployed truncheons and rubber bullets to control the crowd. One suporter remains in hospital suffering a bullet wound to the leg.