An Airbus A320neo aircraft operated by South American airline LATAM Peru collided with a fire truck as it sped along the runway for takeoff after the vehicle crossed the plane’s path, killing two people in the truck and causing the plane to burst into flames on the runway.
Chilling surveillance video footage of the moment the five-year-old aircraft collided with the truck was leaked within minutes of the incident at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport.
After clipping the side of the vehicle, an airport fire and rescue truck that was taking part in a training mission, the aircraft toppled onto its side. In a series of videos taken by eyewitnesses, the aircraft is then seen sliding down the runway with a serious engine fire on the right-hand side of the aircraft.
Remarkably, the airline said in a brief initial statement that all passengers and crew managed to escape from the aircraft, but two firefighters who were inside the truck are believed to have been killed in the accident.
“We regret to confirm that the flight LA2213 that covered the Lima – Juliaca route, operated by LATAM Airlines Peru suffered an accident on the ground,” the airline said on its official Twitter account. “There are no passengers or crew members deceased.”
“LATAM Airlines Peru has deployed its Emergency Plan mobilizing all available human and physical resources to provide immediate assistance to passengers and crew on board,” a statement from the airline continued.
Jorge Chávez International Airport has suspended all operations as the initial emergency response continues.
Other videos showed passengers being evacuated via an emergency slide at the front left-hand door. Other passengers also managed to escape via the rear right-hand door, although the slide did not appear to have deployed. The slide at the front right-hand door also appears to have partially failed.
Shortly after the crash, passenger Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi shared a photo of himself covered in foam that had been doused by firefighters alongside a woman with the aircraft in the background.
Enrique wrote: “When life gives you a second chance #latam”.
Airport vehicles are meant to obtain permission from air traffic control before crossing an active runway, although the circumstances of how the truck came to be crossing the runway at the same time as LATAM flight 2213 was in its takeoff roll are not yet known.
Data from Flight Radar 24 suggests that the aircraft was travelling at approximately 129 knots when it struck the truck.
Third world countries….