Peruvian jet crashes in bad weather, 41 dead

Rescue workers hacked through swamps on Wednesday to search for bodies in the wreckage of a Boeing 737-200 TANS airline jet that crashed in ...

Rescue workers hacked through swamps on Wednesday to search for bodies in the wreckage of a Boeing 737-200 TANS airline jet that crashed in Peru8217;s northern jungle, killing at least 41 people including foreign tourists.

Police and firefighters pulled five bodies from the wreckage as the search restarted at daybreak. The airline said 57 people survived the crash, but authorities do not expect to find more passengers alive.

The TANS airliner carrying 92 passengers came down in swamps 3 km from Pucallpa airport as it tried to land on Tuesday in heavy storms. The flight was due to fly on the Amazon city of Iquitos, a popular tourist destination.

8216;8216;We8217;ve also found five more survivors and that takes the number of survivors to 57. Two people are still missing and there are 41 dead,8217;8217; TANS executive Jorge Belevan said.

TANS said 11 US citizens were on board, along with two Italians, a Colombian, an Australian and a Spanish woman.

Local authorities said the death toll could still rise because of the difficult terrain for searchers near Pucallpa, 785 kms from Lima.

An America Television reporter said the plane debris was scattered over an area of 5,300 square feet.

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8216;8216;It8217;s very inaccessible territory. The fuselage is totally shattered. We just have to keep looking,8217;8217; Luis Aldana, mayor of the nearby village of Portillo, said.

TANS said the plane made an emergency landing and did not crash. Experts said the harsh weather at the time of landing meant there was little the pilots could do to avoid the accident. About 10 minutes before landing, the plane was caught in a fierce storm that was unusual for the time of year and the plane came down in flames, survivors said.

8216;8216;Those cross winds produce air currents that go up and down and a pilot simply cannot fly in such conditions,8217;8217; John Elliot, president of the Peruvian Pilots8217; Association, said. TANS was founded in the 1960s by the Peruvian Air Force to help serve remote jungle communities. 8212;Reuters