A 9-year-old girl may be the only person who can tell investigators about the crash of a DC-9 that killed the other 52 people aboard. Aviation officials questioned Thursday whether the plane blew up in midair as initially believed.
Civil Aviation Director Alvaro Raad Gomez said it would be "premature and irresponsible" to speculate on what caused the Intercontinental Aviation plane to crash Wednesday evening as it approached the Caribbean resort city of Cartagena.The pilot of another plane told authorities he saw an explosion rip through the plane as it flew at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, Raad Gomez said. But authorities said when they sought details from the pilot, he no longer claimed to have seen an explosion.
"The scene at the disaster site is terrible," one of the farmers helping recover bodies told RCN radio.
"The girl seems to be the only survivor," said Raad Gomez. "She said she fell out of the plane when it broke up and fell into a swamp."
A witness on the ground said the plane hit the ground with an explosion. The pilot appeared to be attempting a crash landing in the swamp, Argemiro Vergara said.
The survivor, Erika Delgado, was hospitalized with a broken arm and was in good condition Thursday. Her parents and younger brother apparently died in the crash, but that information was kept from her temporarily to avoid shock.
Flight 2056 originated in Bogota, 380 miles south of Cartagena. All 53 people aboard were Colombian, authorities said.