May 21-As Cuba ended its official two-day mourning period following the loss of life in a May 18 plane crash outside of Havana, investigators from Cuba, Mexico and the Boeing Corp. began searching for the cause of the crash.
Cuba’s national airline, Cubana de Aviacion, had rented the 39 year-old Boeing 737 airplane from a Mexican charter company named Damojh Aerolíneas, also called Global Air. Of the 110 people killed in the crash, 104 were passengers and six were Mexican crew members. Three people survived the crash and are in critical condition in a Havana hospital.
About half the people who died were from the Cuban province of Holguín, 400 miles east of Havana, where the plane was headed.
Mexican-Owned Plane Had Previous Problems
The plane itself had been previously barred from an airport in the South American nation of Guyana after its crew had overloaded the plane destined for Cuba with cargo.
According to a news story by the Associated Press, Cuban Transportation Minister Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez told reporters the Cuban airline had been “renting the plane for less than a month under an arrangement in which the Mexican company was entirely responsible for maintenance of the aircraft.”
The official added that it is routine for Cuba to rent planes because the U.S. embargo on Cuba makes it difficult for its airlines to purchase its own aircraft.