Six aboard, one on ground die, witnesses report explosion and ball of fire during takeoff

An 1979 model IAI-1124 Westwind jet registered to MedJets (Air Ambulance by Air Trek, Inc., photo from MedJets' web site) crashed into an airport hangar at Tocumen International Airport at Panama City airport in Panama during takeoff Friday and burst into flames, killing seven people. The dead include four crew members from MedJets, two passengers and one person on the ground.

The crewmembers have been identified by Panamanian sources as Hayward Daisey, Monts Morrow, Steven Girold and Barry Scott White. The two other pax on the aircraft were Italian nationals and were identified as Alessia Mareati and Paola Di Gregori. A courier for the Panamanian company Girag Air Cargo, identified as Santiago Velazquez, was killed when he was hit by the aircraft after it had crashed. It was not clear at press time which one of the passengers was the patient that was being ferried.

The aircraft was on a medical ferry mission, taking a patient from Quito, Peru to Ecuador and on to Washington (DC). It had made a stop in Panama City to refuel and was to continue its mission. Witnesses reported that they heard an explosion and saw a ball of fire and smoke as the aircraft was taking off, after which the aircraft crashed into one of the hangars at the airport.

"All those aboard were killed," said Humberto Chavarria, assistant director of Panama's Civil Aviation Authority. "The pilot lost control, veered off course and crashed."

A team of investigators from the US was expected to arrive yesterday to begin an analysis of the accident.

FMI: http://www.medjets.com/index.htm, http://www.aeronautica.gob.pa/aeropuertos/tocumen.htm (Tocumen Airport web site, Spanish)