Page Seven Digital
(Expanded with the BOA report)
Heavy rain prevented landing operations at the Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz on Wednesday morning.
“Twice we tried to land in Santa Cruz, but the turbulence, the movement inside the plane is very strong. The plane rose again and after 10 minutes they told us that we were returning to Cochabamba because the storm does not allow us to make the landing,” reported one journalist from page seven who this morning was heading to the eastern capital, on BOA flight 960.
The reporter explained that the ship tried to land when completing the La Paz-Santa Cruz route, but on the first attempt the storm prevented the landing from taking place.
A few minutes later, the pilot of the aircraft made another attempt to land on the Viru Viru runway, but the device had to take flight again and head for the Cochabamba airport.
“We are in the second unsuccessful attempt to land due to the rain in Santa Cruz. We are going to Cochabamba again. We leave at 7:00 and we are circling between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. The clouds and the rain cause great turbulence in the plane. “, reported the journalist.
The manager of the state BOA, Ronald Casso, reported that the diversion was due to the fact that Viru Viru closed operations “due to weather conditions” that resulted in the diversion of flights.
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“Today, April 13, we closed the Viru Viru Airport due to adverse weather conditions from 7:35 a.m. to 9:05 a.m., when the first aircraft was able to take off. Due to this closure, two BOA aircraft flying from La Paz to Santa Cruz were diverted to the Cochabamba airport,” Casso said in a statement.
The head of the state airline indicated that three BOA ships could not take off from Viru Viru, in addition to others from Amaszonas and Aerolineas Argentinas.
“Likewise, three BOA aircraft that were in VVI, as well as aircraft from Amaszonas and Aerolineas Argentinas, and two other BOA aircraft that were about to take off from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz, could not take off,” he explained.
The temporary closure of operations in Viru Viru had an effect on 10 flights this morning and delays in more than 40, due to connections, according to BOA.
“Unfortunately, the direct effect on 10 flights in the morning will have a delay effect on more than 40 domestic flights this Wednesday due to the connections and subsequent scheduled flights with the aircraft involved,” Casso said.
The flights resumed at 9:30, with route changes and the effort to resume the established schedules.
“BOA will work to minimize the effects on passengers by applying changes to the route and aircraft in service during the day.
As of the opening of operations at 9:30 a.m., flights have been resumed and passengers continue their flights to and from Santa Cruz at this time,” said the manager.
