A married couple from San Roque, Antioquia, felt that this Tuesday followingnoon would be their last day together. Juan Camilo * and his wife were traveling to Cartagena on Latam flight LA4292 that made an emergency landing at the José María Córdova airport, following its front wheel caught fire.
“Everyone started saying: collision, collision, collision! We are going to collide … ”, she recounted.
The videos that generated commotion on social networks were a minimal portrait of what happened to dozens of passengers. It all started, according to Juan Camilo, at 10:00 in the morning. The flight to Cartagena was planned for that time, but the airline rescheduled it because it was facing delays.
About four hours later, when the plane finally arrived, travelers were told that the machine had some technical faults and that, possibly, the flight was going to be cancelled. “They even took it off the screens and that caused a lot of discomfort. But then the airline staff said it was okay to travel. So everyone decided to get on.”
The flight, however, did not seem normal. That was the impression that Juan Camilo was left with, following reporting that when taking off a strange sound was heard and that they circled over the airport for regarding ten minutes, without being able to stabilize the plane.
When they had already accumulated 20 minutes of flight, the stewardesses explained that they were facing a technical problem and that they would resort to an emergency landing, according to Juan Camilo’s version. “They did not explain to us what the reasons were. Almost half an hour in the air like this. That was like an eternity.”
Once the landing maneuvers began, the crew sent the passengers to the rear of the plane. It seemed impossible to avoid a collision. “Everyone started saying: collision, collision, collision! We’re going to collide…” At that moment most of the travelers, including Juan Camilo and his wife, began to cry and pray.
“It was even thought that the plane might explode due to the gasoline issue (neither Latam nor Aerocivil have delved into the causes of the emergency),” said the traveler, who does not forget the four machines and the firemen who waited on the runway while the plane tried to land.
Then a strong blow was felt, amid tears and prayers from crew and passengers. The plane landed, “but it took a long time for them to get us down because it had been tilted very far back.”
The scare passed, said Juan Camilo, who “I was ready for that to be the last moment”. The same did not happen with the flight or with the responses of the airline. Although they were proposed to reschedule for this Wednesday at 11:00 at night, they have not given them any further explanations and to others, according to their version, they do not want to return what they paid for the flight.
The truth is that his desire to go to Cartagena, following such a scare, evaporated. Not even the reservation at the hotel – and even less the itinerary that they already had scheduled – might erase what this couple who traveled in seats 17a and 17b felt, on the flight that caused a stir this Tuesday.
“Many people were crying, praying, screaming”
Kelly Manuela Cifuentes, another passenger on Latam flight LA4292, reported that the pilot saved them, that without his maneuvers they would not be telling the story.
“We began to notice strange things and the plane was not seen to be moving forward. The stewardess told us to stay calm. We put on our seat belts, then we were in the fetal position, and they explained to us how to put the children. They were moments of great anxiety.”
And finally, he reported: “Many people were crying, praying and screaming. There were people fainted. I tried to stay calm, but the moment we landed I mightn’t take it anymore and I burst into tears.”
