A small commercial airliner crashed Monday into a hill outside the capital of Honduras, killing all 14 people aboard, including a Canadian citizen.The National Service of Civil Aviation said the twin-engine Let L-410 Turbolet crashed in the town of Las Mesitas a little after 8 a.m. EST, minutes after air traffic controllers instructed the pilots to land.
An airline official says the plane was carrying two pilots and 12 passengers, including Assistant Secretary for Public Works Rodolfo Rovelo and United Workers Federation of Honduras leader Jose Israel Salinas.
The cause of the crash is being investigated, but there was fog in the area at the time. Emergency personnel were searching for the data recorders to help in the investigation. Tincontin airport is considered dangerous because of its short runway and surrounding hills.
A pilot survived the crash but died on the way to a hospital, firefighters spokesman Jaime Silva said.
The government declared three days of national mourning in honour of the government officials killed.
Jorge Deras, mayor of the town of Santa Ana, near Las Mesitas, said he heard an explosion and ran to the crash site.
At least 10 planes have crashed in and around the Toncontin airport since October 1989, when a Honduran commercial jet went down, killing 131 people.
Toncontin's short runway, old navigation equipment and neighbouring hills make it one of the world's more dangerous international airports. It was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 1,600 metres long.
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