Cargo plane crashes in huge ball of fire
By Graeme Hosken
Three South African pilots and four other crew were killed when a transport plane they were piloting ploughed into the ground on take-off from a Canadian airport, bursting into flames.
Civil aviation authorities will leave SA this weekend to help their Canadian counterparts investigate yesterday's crash in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The cargo plane, a Boeing 747-200, which belonged to the air transport company MK Airlines, was believed to have crashed after its tail hit the ground during take-off from Halifax International Airport, causing the South African and Zimbabwean crew to lose control of the aircraft.
MK Airlines is owned by Mike Kruger, a South African with dual Zimbabwean citizenship.
It was the second air crash to befall the company. The first occurred in 2001 when another Boeing 747-200 crashed in Nigeria. The crew escaped with only minor injuries.
While staff from MK Airlines confirmed that the pilots were South African, they refused to name them until their next of kin had been informed.
It was understood that the three South African crew members are from Centurion and Pretoria North.
It was believed that one of the crew had worked for SAA while the others worked for the now defunct SunAir.
The aircraft, which had stopped in Halifax to refuel, was loaded with tractors, lobsters and fish, and was bound for Zaragosa, the main fishing city in Spain.
Steve Anderson, MK Airlines' risk and legal section manager, who is based in London, refused to comment last night "out of respect for the families".
Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Moses Seate said they had been notified about the crash and were awaiting more information.
"As in any airline crash involving either South African crew or passengers, we will send a team of investigators to help out those from the country involved," he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said last night said it had received word of the crash, but it was awaiting notification on the nationalities of the dead from Canadian authorities.
Halifax regional fire and emergencies spokesperson Mike Lerue, speaking from the crash site, said the aircraft had burst into flames on impact just outside the airport's perimeter fence.
He said the bodies, some charred beyond recognition, had been recovered both inside and outside the aircraft, which had crashed in a remote, wooded area.
"The preliminary investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Transport Safety Department has only just begun. Therefore it is still to early to say what caused the crash," said Lerue.
He said initial information indicated that the South Africans may have come from a "small town called Pretoria".
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