LSRPictures - LAPA 737

BUENOS AIRES (CNN) -- Pelo menos 80 pessoas morreram, uma delas em terra, quando um avião da companhia argentina LAPA caiu na noite de terça-feira e explodiu ao tentar decolar de Buenos Aires com destino à cidade de Córdoba, 650 quilômetros a noroeste da capital.

De acordo com autoridades, o avião transportava 103 pessoas -- 98 passageiros e cinco tripulantes. Entre os sobreviventes está o piloto, que foi levado para o hospital junto com 24 outros ocupantes do avião e com dez pessoas que foram atingidas em terra. Muitos sofreram queimaduras graves

O avião, um Boeing 737 da empresa Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas (LAPA), iniciava vôo com destino a Córdoba quando caiu no final da pista, indo parar sobre um campo de golfe.

Uma testemunha disse que o avião atropelou vários carros que estavam na avenida costeira, junto ao Rio da Prata, enquanto se precipitava entre o complexo comercial Punta Carrasco e o campo da Associação Argentina de Golfe, às margens do rio.

Um sobrevivente da tragédia disse que uma turbina do avião havia sido submetida a revisão durante uns quinze minutos, antes de ser autorizada a decolagem.

"Foi a turbina esquerda, a mesma que explodiu", disse o sobrevivente, Fabián Alejandro Núñez à agência de notícias DyN.

De acordo com os serviços de socorro, 25 pessoas foram resgatadas com vida. A cifra foi confirmada pelo governador de Buenos Aires, Federico de la Rúa, que se dirigiu ao local do desastre, junto com o presidente Carlos Menem.

As equipes de resgate montaram imediatamente um centro improvisado para dar os primeiros socorros aos sobreviventes. A Polícia bloqueou as ruas de acesso ao aeroporto, o que resultou em um grande engarrafamento no centro da capital.

"Estamos fazendo tudo o que podemos", declarou de la Rúa, que mobilizou funcionários da Defesa Civil, ambulâncias e equipes de bombeiros de toda a cidade.

Enquanto isso, parentes desesperados de passageiros que estavam no vôo 3142 aguardavam um anúncio sobre a lista de vítimas. Três aviões decolaram de Córdoba com destino a Buenos Aires, levando parentes do Boeing acidentado até o Aeroporto Jorge Newberry.

Rosa Lamberto chorava copiosamente em frente a um hospital, sem saber do paradeiro do marido. "Sempre fico preocupada quando ele viaja de avião. Agora o que me resta é esperança", disse, acompanhada do casal de filhos, enquanto rezava o terço.

Na manhã desta quarta-feira, um juiz se juntou aos investigadores que acorreram ao local do acidente. A Boeing também enviou técnicos a Buenos Aires.

O último grande desastre aéreo na Argentina ocorreu em 10 de outubro de 1997, quando um DC-9 da companhia Austral caiu nos arredores de Nuevo Berlin, perto da fronteira com o Uruguai. O avião fazia um vôo doméstico entre Buenos Aires e Posadas.

(Com informação do correspondente Javier Dobert, da Associated Press e da Reuters)

Investigators comb wreckage of crashed Argentine jetline

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) -- Investigators vowed Wednesday to determine quickly why an Argentine jetliner crashed during a failed takeoff and erupted in flames, killing at least 69 people.

The LAPA airlines Boeing 737 rose only a few feet into the air late Tuesday, slammed back onto the ground, crashed through an airport fence and plowed across a busy road before making a fiery stop at the edge of a golf course.

The Buenos-Aires based Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas said 95 passengers and 5 crew members were aboard the jet, which took off from Buenos Aires' Jorge Newbery airport, bound for the city of Cordoba, 475 miles (760 kilometers) to the northwest.

Argentine authorities initially said at least 80 people had died in the crash -- 79 aboard the plane and one on the ground -- and that 24 on board survived. However, only 69 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday afternoon, and authorities acknowledged they did not know what the final death toll would be.

Doctors said the bodies of some of the victims were covered with horrifying burns.

There were conflicting reports on whether the pilot, Gustavo Weigel, had survived. Authorities at first said Weigel was alive, but an official at the crash scene said he was not.

The pilot's brother said Weigel was still missing.

"I just want to know where my brother is," said Ricardo Weigel. "I was told he's alive, but no one can tell me where he is. I can't confirm he's alive."

At least two people jumped to safety from the disintegrating aircraft as it traveled in flames across the golf course. A coast guard officer on the ground was also injured, the news agency Diarios y Noticias reported.

"It took out everything in its path before stopping, and the plane broke in half," said businessman Julio Arevalos, who leapt from the burning wreckage. "The flames were coming from the front of the plane, and there was smoke everywhere."

Investigators said they found one of the plane's two flight recorders but said they could not yet identify the cause of the accident. The federal airport regulator promised to determine the cause within 48 hours.

A judge joined investigators at the scene early Wednesday. Boeing also dispatched investigators to Buenos Aires.

Boeing spokesman Sean Griffin said the plane was put into service in 1970 and had logged 67,400 flight hours, although it was designed to last 20 years and fly 50,000 flight hours.

According to local news reports, the plane had mechanical problems earlier in the day and was examined by airline mechanics before it was returned to service.

Police block streets

Police blocked routes around the airport, creating huge traffic jams along key arteries nearby.

"We are doing all we can," said Fernando de la Rua, the Buenos Aires mayor, who said he had ordered civil defense workers, ambulance and fire crews from around the city to the scene.

Meanwhile, anxious relatives gathered to wait for word about loved ones. Three planes were reported to be departing Cordoba, carrying family members to the Buenos Aires airport.

Rosa Lamberto wept outside a local hospital, uncertain about the fate of her husband. "I always worry about him when he flies. I can only hope," said the woman, who was joined by a son and a daughter who prayed with rosary beads in her hand.

The region's last major air disaster killed 74 people when an Argentine DC-9 operated by Austral airlines crashed October 10, 1997.

That plane fell near Nuevo Berlin, near the western border of Uruguay, while en route to Buenos Aires from the northeast Argentine city of Posadas.

Buenos Aires Bureau Chief Luis Clemens, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.