A passenger aboard a commercial flight in Mexico recorded the terrifying moment the plane crashed while attempting to take off in inclement weather.
Ramin Parsa, a Chicago resident and passenger aboard flight AM2431, was recording out the window in the passenger cabin then the plane slammed into the ground Tuesday.
“We took off … It was pouring rain. Honestly, I thought, ‘Why in the world are we even taking off?'” said Dorelia Rivera, also from Chicago, to NBC News. “When it was starting to rain really hard and I really thought we weren’t going to take off.”
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Passengers and officials say a strong burst of wind hit an Aeromexico jetliner on takeoff from Durango City, moments before it crashed, leaving those aboard with mere minutes to evacuate the burning plane.
“Within a couple of minutes, the plane just started shaking and we heard a loud noise, we don’t know behind us, we don’t know right or left, but we just heard a loud noise behind us, and the next thing we knew, [the plane] was starting to smoke,” Rivera said.
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The plane had tried to take off in a severe storm, but smacked down on its belly in a nearby field. With the engines torn off, it began to burn.
Durango state Gov. Jose Aispuro told the Associated Press that a gust of wind hit flight AM2431, which was heading to Mexico City, just as it was lifting off the tarmac and thus forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff.
Passengers said they heard a loud noise as the plane’s left wing banged to the ground, and both engines tore loose. The plane stayed upright, though, and the escape slides activated.
All 99 passengers and four crewmembers made it off the plane, but the pilot was severely injured.
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“People were just hopping on top of each other, just trying to get out. So I grabbed … my daughter’s hand and some medicine that basically keeps her alive. And I tried to get out with her,” Rivera said.
About 49 people were hospitalized with injuries. Some people had burns on a quarter of their bodies, said Durango state Health Ministry spokesman Fernando Ros.
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Aispuro said all were expected to live.
— With files from Christopher Sherman of the Associated Press