Havana plane crash: 101 feared dead after Cuban airliner comes down shortly after take off

A passenger plane with 104 people on board has crashed shortly after take off from Havana's main airport.

State media reported that there were three survivors in a critical condition after the Boeing 737 jet, which was en route from Jose Marti International Airport to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin, came down. The announcement puts the presumed number of dead at 101.

Flight CU972 was scheduled to depart at 11am local time (4pm BST) and land an hour and 20 minutes later.

But the jet failed to make its destination and came down close to its departure airport, crashing into a field and railway line.

Photos posted on social media showing a large plume of thick, black smoke rising from near the terminal buildings.

The aircraft involved is believed to be a Boeing 737-200 on loan from a Mexican airline, Global Aerolineas Damojh of Guadalajara.

The plane was 30 years old, and had flown for seven other airlines — starting with Southwest of the US in 1988, and including a spell with Air Kazakhstan.

Reports say it lost height shortly after take-off and crashed in woodland close to the airport.

Havana’s air hub is a short way southwest of the Cuban capital, and has pockets of population nearby as well as a major highway near one end of the runway.

There is concern that people on the ground may be among the casualties.

Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances.

A military officer who declined to provide his name said there appeared to have been only three survivors in critical condition, but other officials declined to confirm that figure.

State TV said nine foreign crew were on board as well as the passengers while Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said he feared that there would be many fatalities.

Crash investigators are at the scene alongside police and firefighters.

What appears to be a charred wing and other parts from the plane were scattered on the ground.

A post on Cubana's website urged families of the passengers to contact the airline using two telephone numbers.

​Plane tracking app FlightRadar24 showed an American Airlines jet having departed from the airport shortly after the crash, suggesting the runway remained open, however it was closed a short time later.

Cuban state media originally reported that the aircraft had been chartered from an Italian carrier, Blue Panorama. That airline is operating flights for Cubana, but the aircraft involved in the accident appears to have belonged to a Mexican carrier, Global Air.

The 420-mile flight to Holguin was scheduled to take just over an hour. Given the destination — a large city in the east of the island — it is likely to have had a mix of families, tourists, business travellers and government officials on board.

While Cuba has had an accident-free run of nearly 18 years, in the last three years of the 20th century it suffered four fatal accidents.

Cubana de Aviación, the national airline, has had a troubled history. As a result of the US economic embargo, it has been largely reliant on Russian and European aircraft. Maintenance of its relatively elderly fleet has been a constant challenge.

The practice of chartering in aircraft and crew, known as “wet leasing”, is widely used around the world.

In 1999, a DC-10 jet belonging to the French airline, AOM, suffered a fatal accident while flying for Cubana. After a flight from Havana it overshot the runway at Guatemala City.