Survivors of Martinair Flight 495 were trying to piece together the crash: the violence of the storm they tried to land in, the terror of flames and dense smoke, the screams of panic.
Fifty-four people died Monday when the DC-10 jet, carrying 340 people from Amsterdam to Faro, broke apart and burst into flames while trying to land in a storm.Portuguese and Dutch investigators examined the crash site Tuesday, officials said.
Most of the passengers were Dutch vacationers, but at least two Americans were aboard. Pamela Lewis, 34, of Wilmington, Del., told The Associated Press that if it wasn't for her dog, Sikka, a 50-pound mixed black Labrador and Newfoundland, she wouldn't have escaped the flaming wreck.
Because she arrived late for the flight with the dog, she was put in front, the least damaged part of the plane, she said. And because she was holding Sikka under her seat as the plane approached for landing, she was already doubled over in a protective crouch when the aircraft crashed.