www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Two incidents in two months are too much for me. Both occurred in the intra Costa Rica routes.

See:
http://aviation-safety.net/index.php

Look at Jan 2006 and Dec 2005.

In Dec the plane hit a wind gust which caused it to go down.
Yesterday the plane blew a tire on take off, causing it to hit a tree.

Nobody killed in either event.

From AM Costa Rica:


Aborted takeoff causes
plane to slam into post

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A Nature Air plane had to abort a takeoff Tuesday morning in Puerto Jiménez after witnesses said the left tire blew. The plane, a twin Otter carrying 11 passengers, the pilot and the co-pilot, was en route to Tobias Bolaños airport in San José, said Alexi Huntley, a spokesman for the airline.

The aircraft veered off the runway, lost a wing and struck a post not far from the local cemetery.

The Cruz Roja treated two passengers, both U.S. citizens. One man, 50-year-old Eric Yoos, had minor scrapes and bruises and a 21-year-old woman, Clara Tourigny, had an attack of the nerves after the incident, said Antonio Morrillo Orofú of the rescue agency.

Huntley said the airline is still investigating the incident but by Tuesday afternoon, all passengers were en route to San José from the airport on the Osa Peninsula and there were no other delays, Huntley said. He added that the names of the passengers and the pilots were not being released to the public.

Nature Air had problems with one of their planes less than a month ago in Tamarindo. A plane with eight passengers had to make an emergency landing near the popular beach town in Guanacaste Dec. 16. No one died in that incident either though some occupants required medical assistance. That plane, too, was destroyed.

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PacoLoco: "You pay for it one way or another."
Ace: "Rent everything, do not buy in Costa Rica"

Where does Nature Air fly to ? I'm like is this the service from San Jose to Jaco?



Xman

No flights to Jaco Xman.
http://www.natureair.com/destinations/index.htm

Those mishaps don't sound too bad Ace... where's your sense of adventure? I guess the only other choice is Sansa regional? - http://www.flysansa.com/itinerario.html

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

I have flown Nature Air from San Jose to Quepos, Palmar del Sur, and Puerto Jimenez. All of the pilots were in their early to mid-20s and could not possibly have had much experience, and their planes far from new. I flew with them because they were cheap and Tobias Bolanos airport was convenient to get to.

Coming back from Puerto Jimenez, I was the only passenger and the pilot was a young woman about 25 years old who could not have weighed much more than 100 pounds. We ran into a storm and she was struggling frantically to keep the little plane under control while attempting to climb up over the storm. The tail end of the plane kept trying to come around. I wanted to climb over the seats to the empty co-pilot’s seat to give her a hand, but couldn’t manage it. She finally got us up over the storm and we made back to San Jose in one piece.

I promised myself I would try Sansa next time. Actually, that was 2 years ago and I’ve been afraid to get into a small aircraft since them.

I have flown Sansa over a dozen times between San Jose / Liberia / Tamarindo, and I've never had a problem, except for delays every once in a while. The pilots are always young, usually mid-30's or less. They even have a woman pilot, who is very petite. But they seem to know what they're doing.

The only problem that I have with Sansa is that they charge me an extra $20 - $25 every time for overweight baggage. I always book my flights online, and haven't had a problem yet.

Good luck,
Mikey-B

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

Sansa is owned by TACA. The pilots are building up experience hoping to move up to a job with TACA. It would make sense that there is less inclination for TACA to skimp on training or maintenance then perhaps Nature Air.

Just a thought not substantiated by any knowledge of poor training or maintenance by Nature Air but two incidents in a month raises cause for concern.

The first reportedly caused by a wind draft causing the pilot to loose control and the second by a blown tire on take off would seem to raise caution flags about training and maintenance.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I was seriously considering getting a Sansa AirPass, but my wingmen opted for a gas-guzzling SUV for our trip next month. I am not sure we will be any safer than traveling on one of these small aircraft, but at least we'll have our fate...a steering wheel... in our own hands. Either way, I'm still bringing St. Christopher along for the ride!

Don Giovanni, thanks for the first-hand insight into Nature Air.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Bluedevil get a turbo diesel they do good on gas. Its a senic drive no matter where you go in CR.

Surfdog

Mikey-B....

The cute pilot was piloting the plane in Tamarindo that crashed a few weeks ago. I believe she got pretty banged up.

I didn't know that. I hope she's ok. She was very nice, and always pleasant. I don't think she was "do-able", but there's something about a Latina in a Pilot's uniform.....!!!

_________________
You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

As I just posted on another thread,I am told that between Sansa and Nature Air,there were 8 crashes during 2005. Before last year they seemed to have 1/year.

I flew on both Sansa and NatureAir last month (Sansa: Tamarindo to San Jose; San Jose to Quepos. NatureAir: Drakes Bay to San Jose). Fortunately, I encountered no problems with these three flights. I also had a private flight on one flight (NatureAir) as I was the only passenger. But as I say, luckily my private flight was much less eventful than Don Giovanni's. I appreciated the fact that the flight departed as scheduled because I figured most airlines would just cancel the flight and reschedule it to a date when they had more passengers. If this had occurred, I would have been pretty hosed because the "airport" in Drakes Bay consists of what can generously be described as a shack and may not be located in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there.

Biggest difference I noticed between the airlines was that the NatureAir planes had twin engines while the Sansa planes just had one, and that extra engine could come in handy, I figure. Weight restrictions never came into play because, contrary to my expectations while travelling during dry season, none of the flights were close to being full.

NIce young Tica I chatted with on one of the Sansa flights said she preferred Sansa over NA. I gathered that Ticos paid less than gringos for their airfare.

Sort of disconcerting to hear about NatureAir's problems.

Sansa must have more than one female pilot because the one who piloted my flight to Quepos was quite tall (also good looking, BTW). I'm with Mikey on the attractiveness of women in uniform (and positions of authority).

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"It's not how you fish, it's how you wiggle your worm."

They pay 1/2 price. When I bring my novia to the Sansa Terminal, I'll give her the cash, and have her pay for her own flight. They charge me $74 when I book online, but they only charge her $37 when she shows them her cedula, and pays for her seat in person. I've done this on my past 3 trips. It's the same every time.

_________________
You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!