Venezuela: 160 Feared Dead in Plane Crash

In a report today from the AP, it is feared the passengers and crew of a West Caribbean Airways (McDonnell Douglas MD-82) are all dead. This happened in the area of Machiques, near the border with Colombia some 400 miles west of Caracas at around 3:30am today.

A plane carrying vacationers from the French Caribbean island of Martinique crashed Tuesday in western Venezuela after reporting engine trouble, and at least 160 people aboard were feared dead.

There is one question, other than the usual, that is left to be answered. The French claim there were 153 passengers, while the airline claims there were only 152. Where is the missing person? Who is the missing person? Is this a new tactic? Was this practice? Maybe there are more than one question to be answered.