Cuba Plane Crash Investigations Supported by USA, Mexico Experts

According to Granma newspaper, American specialists  are participating because the Boeing 737-200 is manufactured in the United States

Experts from the United States and Mexico support the investigations led by Cuba to clarify the causes of the plane crash that took place last Friday in this capital, the press reports today.

The Granma newspaper specifies in one of its articles that US specialists participate in the investigations since this is the country where the manufacturer of the Boeing 737-200 is located, which, with 113 people on board, crashed shortly after takeoff, in the vicinity of the international airport Jose Marti.

According to the newspaper with the largest circulation on the island, Terry Williams, an official of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), two investigators, one from that entity and the other from the Federal Aviation Administration, and a US representative traveled to this capital on Sunday.

Boeing engineers and pilots will travel to Cuba on these first days of the week, he added.

According to Williams, ‘all United States technical advisers will be under the control of the accredited representative, whose mission is to support Cuba in the investigation.’

Experts of Mexico, country to which the company Damojh belongs, and to which Cubana de Aviación leased the plane that the day of the tragedy was flying on the route Havana-Holguín, are also in Cuba.

The Minister of Transport, Adel Yzquierdo, said in statements to the press on Saturday that foreign collaboration was accepted in line with international norms and protocols governing the matter.

He also stated that foreign specialists would have all the conditions to carry out their work.

Other authorities stressed that the island has trained personnel and the conditions to promote the investigation, which could last for several months and up to a year, experts commented to Prensa Latina.

So far only one of the black boxes of the plane was found, while experts continue in the area of the disaster – an area of cultivation – searching for evidence, especially from remains of the airplane for its processing in the laboratory.

We have the black box Cockpit Voice Recorder in good condition, we are still looking for the second black box, which contains the Flight Data Recorder, Yzquierdo told Prensa Latina.

Along with the investigations, specialized attention continues to the two survivors of the incident, Mailén Díaz and Emiley Sánchez, aged 19 and 39, respectively, who are reported in critical condition and at risk of complications.

The other survivor, Gretell Landrove, 23, died yesterday, news that generated a lot of pain in the Caribbean country.

Another priority for the Cuban government is the identification of the 110 fatal victims, 99 Cubans and 11 foreigners (six Mexican crew members; three tourists, two Argentineans and one Mexican; and two Sahrawi residents on the island).

The Institute of Legal Medicine reported that until yesterday at 18:00 local time, the identity of 40 of the deceased had been clarified.

Sources from that entity said they expect to finish the process in a month.

After the air disaster last Friday, world leaders, parliamentarians and solidarity groups from five continents have expressed sorrow for the loss of human lives and conveyed their condolences.