Crash ATR-42. Venezuela

A Conviasa Airlines ATR-42 en route from Porlamar to Puerto Ordaz near Ciudad Guayana in eastern Venezuela was destroyed Monday when it crashed in an industrial area about 8-10 km. from the PZO runway to which it was headed.

According to Venezuelan authorities, 47 passengers and four crew members were aboard the state-owned airline's turboprop and 15 are now confirmed dead. Transport Minister Francisco Garces Da Silva told state television that "the aircraft recorded a failure that made it hurtle into the ground," according to Mexico's El Universal.

Francisco Rangel Gomez, governor of the state of Bolivar (where Puerto Ordaz is located), said the captain had sent a message to ATC stating he was having trouble controlling the aircraft, according to multiple reports.

Accuweather.com noted that "thunderstorms appeared to be in the area at the time of a plane crash in eastern Venezuela Monday."

The aircraft was powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 engines and first flew in 1994, Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network reported. The crash comes just over two years after a Conviasa 737-200 that was not carrying passengers crashed on approach to Latacunga in Ecuador, killing both pilots (ATW Daily News, Sept. 3, 2008).