Jet destroyed, but 57 escape in Peruvian aviation 'miracle'

LIMA, Peru -- Trudging through knee-deep mud in a hail storm, atleast 57 people escaped a flaming Peruvian airliner that crash-landed in the Amazon jungle, killing 31. An aviation expert Wednesdaycalled it a "miracle" that so many walked away.

TANS Peru Flight 204 was carrying 98 people, including six crewmembers, on a flight from Lima to Pucallpa in the Amazon, a TANSspokesman said Wednesday. He said the 10 missing may includesurvivors who went home without receiving medical assistance.

"A plane is totally destroyed and more than 50 percent of thepassengers have survived," said John Elliot, an experienced Peruvianpilot and aviation expert. He called it "a miracle."

Gaps in the wreckage of the 737-200 apparently allowed people tocrawl out. Two Italian survivors said they used the emergency exitthen walked to a town where people took them to a hospital.

Expert: 'Big beginners' error'

The pilot began his approach to the Pucallpa airport in torrentialrains and strong winds. Four miles from the airstrip he attempted tomake an emergency landing, after wind shear apparently pushed hisplane near the ground, TANS said.

Elliot and Victor Girao, another aviation expert, said pilot errormay have caused the crash. Elliot said the pilot should have avoidedthe storm and landed at another airport. Both men said the pilot wasflying too close to the ground.

"They were coming in very low, looking for the airstrip. A bigbeginners' error," Girao said. AP

DEADLY MONTH FOR AIR TRAVEL

At least 325 people have been killed in plane disasters thismonth, the most since May 2002, when at least 485 died.

*Aug. 23: At least 31 killed when TANS Peru Boeing 737-200 crash-lands during storm.

*Aug. 16: 160 killed when Colombian-registered charter MD-82crashes in Venezuela after pilot reported engines failed.

*Aug. 14: 121 die when Cyprus' Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 losescabin pressure, crashes north of Athens, Greece.

*Aug. 6: 13 die as ATR-72 flown by Tunisia's Tuninter crashes offSicily after engines fail.

*Aug. 2: All 309 aboard survive when Air France Airbus A340overshoots Toronto runway.

Sources: AP; World Almanac Reference Database at FACTS.com;infoplease.com