Passengers on a plane that crashed in Mexico described their miraculous survival as an “act of God” - but experts say it is actually down to advances in aircraft design.
The Aeromexico flight crashed minutes after take-off during a heavy hailstorm on Tuesday, becoming engulfed in flames.
All 103 people on board survived, including two pilots and two flight attendants, but most were injured - two seriously.
Passenger Ashley Garcia tweeted: “Today I faced my biggest fear. Nothing can describe how I felt in that moment but I have no one to thank except God, for giving me the opportunity to come out alive and well.”
But experts say passengers owe their lives to huge advances in aircraft standards, adding that flying is statistically less risky than other modes of transport.
All 103 people on board the plane crash in Mexico survived. Source: Civil Protection of Durango
"Aircrafts now are made materials which are stronger and lighter so the actual structure is more resilient,” Associate Professor Geoffrey Dell, a discipline leader for accident investigation and forensics at CQ University Australia, told SBS News.
“Bigger aircraft are also less vulnerable than smaller ones. The seating has also been improved to make sure that the force that’s required to break them from the floor has gone up by about 50 per cent from what it was 25 years ago.
"This means that the types of injuries that people were getting, or they were finding on victims - lower limb injuries and severe fractures - don’t occur as much now.”
Durango civil defence spokesman Alejandro Cardozaa said the Embraer 190 jetliner was caught in a heavy hailstorm and the pilots tried to make an emergency landing.
Officials said the impact ripped both engines off the plane and fires immediately broke out in the wings.
Despite aircraft improvements, Dr Dell said there are still limits to the impact modern planes can withstand.
Mexico's Transport Department confirmed the US National Transportation Safety Board was sending two investigators to assist in the investigation, and the plane's manufacturer will also participate.
The department did not immediately answer questions about whether the airport was equipped with a Low-Level Wind Shear Alert System that can detect weather conditions like severe downdrafts or microbursts.
Dr Dell said air crash investigators are likely to assess the weather conditions, the flight recorder data, what level the aircraft stalled at and how the crew responded.
“There are a large number of factors to consider. There will be a complex set of questions that investigators will look at,” he added.
On Wednesday, passengers described the terrifying sequence of events.
Emergency services tend to an injured passenger after the plane crash in northern Mexico. Source: AAP
"It's not every day you kind of fall from the sky and live to tell about it," said Alberto Herrera, a 35-year-old webpage engineer from Chicago.
"When we were sitting on the plane there was a little drizzle, but nothing to worry about," he said.
That all changed, seemingly in an instant.
"You start gaining speed and as soon as you start taking off all of the sudden the plane starts struggling and it's getting hit with hail.
"All of a sudden the plane starts rocking and it starts seriously, seriously moving around and then hitting the ground," he said. "We skidded and hit a second time and you saw the flames... you're like 'this might be bad".'
Airline Aeroméxico tweeted that 64 people had since been released from hospital.
Investigators have found the passenger jet's recorders, but have yet to determine the cause of the crash.
- Additional reporting: AAP
