What happened
On the night of the accident, an aircraft departed from Maiquetía-Símon Bolívar Airport at 00:11 local time, destined for Barcelona. The flight was scheduled to last approximately 35 minutes. Roughly five minutes into the flight, while the aircraft was maintaining a cruising altitude of 23,000 feet, it became uncontrollable. The plane descended rapidly and struck the ocean a short distance from Naiguatá, in the State of Vargas.
Following the impact, the aircraft appeared to break apart. During the morning hours, search efforts located small amounts of debris floating on the surface of the water. There were five fatalities among the occupants of the aircraft.
Findings
Initial observations indicate that the aircraft disintegrated upon impact with the sea.