‘Black Box’ Recorders Found at Cuba Plane Crash Site

Investigators have found the “black box” flight data and voice recorders from the Cuban passenger plane that crashed Thursday in a mountainous area of Cuba, killing all 68 people on board.

Thick vegetation at the crash site, in Cuba’s Sancti Spiritus province, had hampered efforts to find the recorder and recover the charred remains of the victims.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said she is sending a plane to Cuba to bring back the bodies of the nine Argentines killed in the crash.

The flight of the AeroCaribbean turboprop airliner originated in Haiti and stopped in Santiago de Cuba, heading to Havana. The plane was the last flight to leave the eastern Cuban city before Hurricane Tomas passed nearby.

The pilot reported an emergency shortly before the plane went down. Witnesses said the aircraft appeared to be unstable and was spewing smoke before the fiery crash.

Cuban state media reported the passengers included people from Argentina, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Venezuela and Japan. Thirty-three passengers and all seven crew members were Cuban.

Some information in this story was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.