Aeromexico plane with 101 on board involved in an ‘accident’

AN AEROMEXICO passenger plane, carrying more than 100 people, has burst into flames after it crashed into a field.

The AeroMexico flight crashed near Durango International Airport.

AN AEROMEXICO flight travelling from Durango, in the country’s north, to Mexico City has crashed.

The plane, which has a capacity for 100 passengers, crashed shortly after taking off from Durango International Airport.

Eyewitnesses described the plane rapidly dropping from the sky less than 10 minutes after takeoff and photos and images from the scene show debris scattered across a field while the aircraft goes up in flames.

#ÚLTIMOSEGUNDO: Al menos 80 víctimas tras estrellarse un avión de #Aeroméxico en #Durango, #México. pic.twitter.com/CuYEkW14Ad

— El Mundo Al Segundo (@MundoAlSegundo) July 31, 2018

Gerardo Ruiz Esparaza, the country’s Secretary of Transportation, tweeted the crash occurred before 4pm Mexican time and the plane was carrying 97 passengers and four crew.

He said the plane “fell upon takeoff”.

Governor of Durango Jose Aispuro confirmed via Twitter there were injuries but no one died from the accident.

A passenger told Mexican media company Televisa everyone managed to get off the plane before it burst into flames.

The country’s Health Ministry is reporting 18 people are being treated for injuries at a nearby hospital.

The civil defence office of Durango state published photos of a smoking but seemingly relatively intact plane lying on its belly in a field. Lines of ambulances were waiting at the accident site.

The airline confirmed the plane, an Embraer 190, had been in an “accident”.

AeroMexico, which is the country’s national airline, is regarded as an extremely safe airline and hasn’t had an accident with a fatality in more than 30 years.

The Embraer190 plane is typically a short-distance aircraft and is used by AeroMexico on regional flights.

The flight normally takes an hour and a half.

The terrifying AeroMexico crash comes less than a month after a passenger on a South African plane used his phone to film the moment the engine went up in flames, killing two people and leaving two Australian pilots critically injured.

The three-minute iPhone video, obtained by news.com.au, was filmed by a passenger sitting by the left wing as the plane’s engine begins to sputter and shoot flames. “It’s getting worse,” the passenger says. “It’s getting bad. This is getting very bad.”

As the plane skims just metres above trees and buildings, the man filming says in Afrikaans, “Geez, this is going to be bad.”

The video then goes black as the iPhone captures the deafening sound of impact. There is silence for several moments before passengers begin moaning in pain. The man tells them not to panic and stay calm. “Hold your heads,” he says. “We’ll have to move forward to go and help.”