U.S. Jet Crashes, 159 Feared Lost, Colombians Say

An American Airlines plane from Miami carrying 159 people crashed Wednesday night as it was making its final descent toward the Cali airport in southwestern Colombia, radio reports said.

Residents said they saw a large explosion in the Andes mountains outside Cali. Civil aviation authorities said 151 passengers and eight crew members were aboard the Boeing 757 aircraft.

Flight 965 was flying at 9,000 feet over Buga, a town about 40 miles north of Cali, when it made its last radio contact about nine minutes before its scheduled landing, said Ramses Ramirez, who led the search effort for Colombia’s Civil Aviation Board.

Police said they received telephone calls from people in the area reporting an explosion. Radio Caracol quoted a witness, Carlos Buitrago, as saying he saw the plane and then a huge fireball, apparently after it crashed.

Local authorities declared an emergency at the site, about 185 miles southwest of Bogota, the capital, and five search helicopters were sent into the area. But search efforts were hampered by darkness and the mountainous terrain. Temperatures in the 40s and poor visibility were also reported in the area.

There was no information immediately available on the flight from American Airlines, the Miami International Airport or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

However, Ed Margelle, a corporate communications representative at American Airlines headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, said that if a crash were confirmed, a “care team” from the airline would notify the passengers’ families.

“As we identify people they will be in contact with the families, and we won’t be releasing any names,” Margelle said.

American Airlines has a “help desk” for people seeking information on Flight 965 to Cali.

The information desk can be reached by calling 1-800-433-7300.

The Boeing 757-200 is a twin-engine, medium- to long-range jetliner that can carry up to 239 passengers. First flown in 1982, it has a range of 3,200 miles.

Times special correspondent Steven Ambrus contributed to this report.