Aeromexico fires three pilots involved in Durango crash

Mexican airline Aeromexico

said on Thursday it had dismissed the three pilots on board one of its Embraer 190 planes that crashed in northwest Mexico in late July allegedly due to bad weather.

In a letter addressed to the airline employees, Andrés Conesa , general director of Aeromexico, stated that, regardless of the fact that all evidence obtained by the Investigation Commission so far pointed to whether factors as the main cause of the accident, “the conduct of all three pilots that were in the cockpit at the time showed that they did not follow protocol and violated several of our company’s regulations, which is why they have been dismissed,” CONESA informed.

The Mexico City-bound jet smashed into scrubland near the runway shortly after take-off from the city of Durango during what passengers described as strong winds, hail, and rain. All 103 passengers and crew survived the accident.

On Wednesday , authorities investigating the crash said it was likely caused by bad weather.

Still, in the letter sent to workers of Aeromexico, Chief Executive Andres Conesa said the three pilots on the flight had already left the company.

A pilot in training was acting as co-pilot when the aircraft took off, authorities said.

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