Cuba Inside Out Cuban airline pilot died as hero to villagers

[flamingdem]

Cuban airline pilot died as hero to villagers
AP Photo/Osmany Rodriguez, Escambray, Prensa Latina

The wreckage of AeroCaribbean Flight 883 is seen near Guasimal, Cuba, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010.

A state airliner carrying Cubans and travelers from Europe and Latin America crashed and burst into flames in a mountainous area Thursday after declaring an emergency and losing contact with air traffic controllers. All 40 Cubans and 28 foreigners aboard died, authorities announced early Friday.
By Mary_Murray

At first Caridad Fernandez thought she was watching a hotshot Cuban Air Force pilot showing off some fancy turns. "The plane was rocking in the air and flying so low it sounded like thunder."

But then the plane made a 360-degree roll and her daughter, watching from their porch, screamed with fright. "She yelled to me that it would fall from the sky".

In a flash of minutes, Aero Caribbean's flight 788 did just that.

The ATR-72 twin turboprop crashed into a remote valley in Cuba's Escambray Mountains, killing all 68 passengers and crew on board. The plane was heading to Havana on a short 1.45-hour flight.

No one knows exactly what brought the plane down and investigative teams from Cuban Civil Aviation and the military say it is too early to speculate. The crash site has been sealed off and sources tell NBC News that searchers on Friday located the plane's two black boxes. These cockpit voice recorders reportedly were not compromised in the crash.

By the eyewitness accounts, the entire ordeal was a gruesome sight to watch: first, seeing the plane in trouble and the pilot, Captain Angel Villa Martínez, fighting to keep control; then, realizing that the battle is lost as the plane plummets to the ground and bursts into a ball of fire.

"It was horrible beyond description," said Caridad, although in hindsight she and others believe the accident could have been much worse.

"We all would have been killed, if not for the pilot."

Flight 788 was directly over the small farming village of Guasimal when it ran into trouble. Caridad's daughter wasn't the only person afraid the plane would crash. "We all did," said another resident Alcides Olivares.

Things turned bad so fast for Flight 788 that all the flight deck had time for was one SOS call to the tower.

Yet, somehow, Captain Villa had the tenacity and quick thinking to steer his crippled plane away from the town. It went down 4 miles away, into a deserted valley.

"We will always be grateful to him," said Caridad. "He died a hero."

And in death, Capt. Villa inspired a whole town of heroes.

When the plane crashed and burst into a fireball, hundreds of Guasimal's residents grabbed machetes and ran up the hill. Carving a path to the crash site, the farmers hacked through the thick vegetation for 5 hours. They guided the fire trucks and Civil Defense bulldozers through the rugged brush.

The next day Olivares, covered with scratches and bruises, shrugged off any discomfort. "We did what had to be done. I think it was the right way to honor the pilot's sacrifice."

[naaman fletcher]

1. most pilots seem to have a strong sense of duty

Reminded me of this story I saw today:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/06/vif.hero.pilot/index.html?hpt=C1

[Judi Lynn]

2. National Cubans have a tremendous sense of concern for the common good.

It's been illustrated time after time, from the efforts to repel the invading assholes in the Bay of Pigs, to their continual successes in making sure Cubans and their pets, and farm animals are able to find their way to higher, safer ground during hurricanes, having gained world-wide attention for their singular unity of purpose, and phenomenal record of safety from one end of the island to the other.

They also were totally prepared to send medical workers and any others to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and were nastily refused by _{George W Bush.} That's how deeply the Republican sense of indentification with humanity runs. Let the people drown, and screw the survivors. Just as long as Black Water gets in there to shoot the survivors harvesting food from watery stores.

[flamingdem]

3. Absolutely agree Judy, they haven't forgottent the spirit of solidarity on the island nt

[social_critic]

4. What's a national Cuban?

I wonder, what do you define as a "national Cuban". You mean Cuban nationals? As for the Bay of Pigs, it was really dumb to invade the way they did...My family had soldiers fighting for the revolution in those days, and it was pretty close, but it would have been a lot closer if they had landed close to a mountain range. I don't think there was much exceptional about it once they got caught in the swamp. The fighting in Santa Clara a few years before was a lot tougher, and a much closer call. I was there, and I can assure you it was no picnic.

[Judi Lynn]

5. I mean Cubans living in their own nation. Not that complicated. n/t