Recent crashes of small or new carriers

WASHINGTON -- The crash of a West Caribbean Airways flight was the second accident in the past six months for the young, low-cost regional carrier.

In March, a twin-engine plane it operated crashed during takeoff from the Colombian island of Old Providence, killing eight people and injuring the other six passengers.

Aviation experts say air travelers can have confidence in major airlines in the U.S., Canada, Europe and parts of Asia. But they should be cautious about flying on small, regional or new carriers outside of those places.

Just last month, all 60 people aboard an Ecuatair flight died when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. The airline had only two planes, both aging Soviet-era transport carriers.

On Feb. 3, an Afghan Kam Air plane crashed in the mountains due to bad weather, killing 104. Afghanistan's only private airline, Kam Air was established in 1994.

In January 2004, an Egyptian-based Flash Airlines charter jet crashed into the Red Sea, killing at least 148 people. Flash and its predecessor, Heliopolis Airlines, had been in existence for only about a decade.