An Aeromexico plane carrying 101 people — 97 passengers and four crew members — crashed just after taking off in Mexico’s northern state of Durango on Tuesday, according to federal officials. The governor of Durango, José R. Aispuro, said on Twitter that there were no deaths. At least 80 of the plane’s passengers are being treated at hospitals, though.
The jetliner was originally scheduled to fly from Durango’s General Guadalupe Victoria International Airport to Mexico City. According to Israel Solano Mejia, director of the city’s civil defense agency, the plane fell nose-first after making it off the ground. Afterward, “the majority of passengers left [the plane] under their own power,” he said. Some even walked to the highway to seek help.
Plane Crash – Mexican airline #Aeromexico said flight 2431 flying from #Durango to #CDMX crashed today. The airplane that went down was an Embraer 190, according @Aeromexico. Reports indicate it went down shortly after takeoff. #azfamily pic.twitter.com/A24YYT76zd
— Juan Magaña (@PhxJuanTVNews) July 31, 2018
The cause of the crash is currently unknown. However, The New York Times reported that OMA, the company that operates the Durango airport and 12 other international airports in Mexico, said that preliminary information indicated that “adverse weather conditions” — like a hail storm — played a role.
“We deeply regret this accident,” Aeromexico said in a statement. “The families of all those affected are in our thoughts and in our hearts.”
According to the NYT, Aeromexico is “considered one of the world’s safer airlines,” though there’s been fatal accidents in the past.