Lucky crash escape for Honduran ministers

Fourteen people died in a crash Monday of small commercial plane near the Honduran capital -- a flight on which two government ministers were booked but missed because they arrived late.

"Thanks to fate and to God we did not board, and God has given us a new life," said one top official who missed the flight, Cesar Ham, the minister of the National Agrarian Institute.

Three Americans were listed among the 14 passengers, all of whom died when the twin-engine Let L-410 Turbolet crashed around 8:00 am local time, according to Gustavo Castaneda, director of Central American Airways.

Officials cited poor weather in the crash of the flight between San Pedro Sula, the country's economic capital, and the capital Tegucigalpa.

Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati was initially said to be on the plane, but a ministry spokesman told AFP the country's top diplomat arrived at the airport late and missed the flight.

The passenger list did include the deputy minister of public works, Rodolfo Robelo, former government minister Carlos Chain, and Israel Salinas, a union leader and backer of ex-president Manuel Zelaya, ousted in a 2009 coup.

Officials said the plane crashed in bad weather in a mountainous area known as Las Mesitas, near the capital, where a 1989 crash of a Boeing 727 killed 131 people.

The Let 410 is a Czech-made twin turboprop, used on short haul flights.

Source - Yahoo.