TAMPA, Fla. -- One hundred ten are dead died in Cuba's deadliest air disaster in nearly three decades. Three survivors are in critical condition.
Now the focus is on the Mexican charter company that owned and staffed the plane. Damojh, also known as Global Air is the subject of two pretty serious complaints leading back to its crew's performance. The complaints are so serious one country even barred the planes from entering its airspace.
As Cuban investigators work to find out what caused the Boeing 737 to crash, Cubans in Tampa recall their own alarming experiences with Cuba's domestic flights.
"And it was tremendously bad. It felt like it was shaking. As soon as it was coming off the ground it was shaking. I was like 'woah this is a death trap,'" said Daymer Sotolongo of Camaguey.
This father of two never rode one again.
In recent weeks, according to reports, Cuba's own national carrier canceled domestic flights and removed planes from service over safety concerns. Those concerns could be more widespread.
The news of the crash left one aviation expert surprised.
"Boeing 737's have a great safety record. They make thousands of flights a day. They are typically the heart of a lot of fleets," said Juan Concehiro president of the Upwind Flying Club.
The country of Guyana told the Associated Press, it barred the plane that crashed from using its airspace last year after discovering the crew overloading luggage on flights to Cuba.
"It's extremely dangerous especially if the pilots don't know how overloaded it is. Is it overloaded forward? It's one of those things where as a pilot you don't know what the plane is going to do," said Concheiro.
The second serious complaint stems from a Facebook post from Ovidio Martínez López, a 40-year-pilot for Cuba's national carrier.
Martínez wrote Cuba rented a plane from this same company a few years back when it dropped off radar and as a result, Cuban officials suspended the captain and co-pilot for "serious technical knowledge of issues."
