Officials in Honduras said the weather may have been to blame for the crash of CENTRAL AMERICAN AIRWAYS Flight 731 yesterday while on approach in heavy fog to Tocantin Airport in Tegucigalpa. All 14 passengers and crew onboard the Let 410 were killed in the crash. According to media reports, a cold front had moved into the area last Friday and heavy dense fog had been common since that time. Flight 731 had departed San Pedro Sula at 7:00am for the scheduled 40 minute flight to Tegucigalpa. Last contact with the flight crew was recorded about 7 minutes prior to the aircraft landing and the flight crew gave no indication of any problems. Honduran officials said the plane crashed into a forest of trees on mountain at a height of 2000 feet, near Cerro de Hula, which is on the approach path to Toncontin. Residents said they heard an explosion and headed to the scene. The 12 passengers and Captain were killed on impact. Residents said they found the Co-Pilot alive and he said "I have cold. I love life". They were able to extract him from the wreckage, however he died on the way to hospital.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, but preliminary reports by the Board of Accident and Incident Investigation Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that Flight 371 left a trail of wreckage deflected to the position of runway 02 at Toncontin. Offcials said that until they examine the black boxes, which have been located, they cannot say what brougth the plane down, however weather is being examined as the probable cause. According to aviation experts, the approach into Toncontin is one of the most difficult in the world because of the weather and the mountains. The Cerro de Hula approach to Toncontin is usually not advised when their is a cold front in the area due to clouds, wind and fog.
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