The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Guatemala City, Guatemala, but had to turn back after a bird strike caused engine issues.

The plane landed back safely. All one hundred and fifty-one people aboard remained unharmed.

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The Airbus A319-100 plane flying from Guatemala City, Guatemala, was descending toward Fort Lauderdale when the crew declared an emergency due to a strange odor in the cockpit.

The plane continued for a safe landing. All one hundred and forty-eight people aboard remained unharmed.

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The Boeing 757-200 plane took off for Guatemala City, Guatemala, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew reported they had an issue with a horse on-board.

The plane landed back safely. No injuries were reported.

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The Interior Secretary Mauricio Lopez confirmed that Gen. Rudy Ortiz, the head of the Guatemalan military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as 4 other military officers died in the crash. Gen. Braulio Mayen, commander of the army’s 5th Brigade, was one of the other victims identified by Lopez.

The accident happened when the high level military officials were flying to the village of Ixquisis to inspect the troops. “They couldn’t land in Ixquisis and instead decided to go to the military base in Las Palmas and in that trajectory the helicopter crashed,” Lopez added.

Ortiz, 51, was due to retire next year after serving the army for 32 years. President Otto Perez Moline, a retired general, expressed his grief over Ortiz’s death and said, “His hard work and dedication during his military career served to strengthen the institution.”

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The post Head of Guatemalan Armed Forces Died in Helicopter Crash first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

A fatal plane crash in Guatemala killed two Americans on Tuesday April 1, 2014.

The Cessna T210L Turbo Centurion #L732JY crashed into a mountain in El Carrizal village, Esquipulas Palo Gordo municipality, San Marcos department of Guatemala, located some 250 km towards west of Guatemala City.

The spokesman for the Departmental Municipal Firefighters, Cecilio Chacaj said that the plane was flying from Tapachula, Mexico and was headed to Roatan Honduras. According to Chacaj, “the accident could have been a mechanical failure or due to the poor visibility that was in the area where the plane crashed. It is an area where there is heavy fog and rain at the time of the accident,” He identified the deceased as George St. John, 65, and Sinchuc Cole, 58. The dead bodies have still not been recovered as the there is no land access to the crash site.

The rescue personnel said that the details about the victims could not be found as they had U.S. Passports. The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala maintains that they are trying to confirm the identity of the victims.

 
Corrections:
* A subscriber to this blog has said that the victims were George and Colleen Simchuk, who lived in Dover, close to Sandpoint ID.

They were flying to Honduras and Guatemala for the purpose of conducting a volunteer pilot work assignment in making aerial surveys to assess deforestation and other environmental issues in the Central American area.

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