1279shp
17th Oct 2004, 08:09
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) -- The tail of a Boeing 747 struck the runway twice, then broke off, before the loaded cargo jet crashed, killing seven people, investigators confirmed Friday.
Bill Fowler, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said the tail of the wide-body plane snapped on Thursday when the aircraft ran off the end of a runway at Halifax International Airport and struck an earthen berm topped by navigational equipment.
MK Airlines, based in Britain and Ghana, said the dead members of its crew were all men. Six were from Zimbabwe while the seventh was South African. The names of the victims have not been released.
The Boeing 747-200, which was loaded with fuel for a flight to Spain, crashed shortly before 4 a.m. local time near an industrial park and quarry outside of Halifax.
The weather at the time of the crash was good with a partly cloudy sky and light winds.
"The indication is there was prolonged contact of the aft fuselage with the runway and off the end of the runway," Fowler said at a news conference.
He said the tail struck for the first time about 820 feet (245 meters) from the end of the 2,900-yard (2,700-meter) runway, then again with about 560 feet (170 meters) to go.
About 985 feet (300 meters) beyond the end of the runway, the tail then struck the earthen mound topped by an antenna and snapped.
"That is what caused the tail to break away from the rest of the airplane," he said.
The rest of the plane hurtled into thick brush, carving a wide V-shaped swath before coming to rest in pieces less than a mile (about a kilometer) from the tail.
A maintenance worker at the airport suggested Thursday the plane didn't use the full length of the runway and simply ran out of room.
Fowler said investigators were looking into that but added: "We do not have any information that there was an early takeoff point, that is substantially early."
Inspector Peter Lepine of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said most of the bodies were recovered from the wreckage but remained at the crash site.
The huge aircraft, which stopped in Halifax to refuel and take on cargo, was loaded with lawn tractors, parts, computer gear and 117,000 pounds (53,000 kilograms) of lobster and fish bound for Zaragosa, Spain.
Fowler said preliminary indications suggest the aircraft wasn't overloaded.
The crash was the fourth for the cargo company in 12 years and the second involving fatalities. All three previous crashes were in Nigeria.
Capt. John Power, operations manager for MK Airlines, arrived in Halifax late Thursday. He said none of the crew on the downed plane was involved in any of the company's other accidents. He also said he had flown with the captain of the downed plane for 14 years.
Bill Fowler, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said the tail of the wide-body plane snapped on Thursday when the aircraft ran off the end of a runway at Halifax International Airport and struck an earthen berm topped by navigational equipment.
MK Airlines, based in Britain and Ghana, said the dead members of its crew were all men. Six were from Zimbabwe while the seventh was South African. The names of the victims have not been released.
The Boeing 747-200, which was loaded with fuel for a flight to Spain, crashed shortly before 4 a.m. local time near an industrial park and quarry outside of Halifax.
The weather at the time of the crash was good with a partly cloudy sky and light winds.
"The indication is there was prolonged contact of the aft fuselage with the runway and off the end of the runway," Fowler said at a news conference.
He said the tail struck for the first time about 820 feet (245 meters) from the end of the 2,900-yard (2,700-meter) runway, then again with about 560 feet (170 meters) to go.
About 985 feet (300 meters) beyond the end of the runway, the tail then struck the earthen mound topped by an antenna and snapped.
"That is what caused the tail to break away from the rest of the airplane," he said.
The rest of the plane hurtled into thick brush, carving a wide V-shaped swath before coming to rest in pieces less than a mile (about a kilometer) from the tail.
A maintenance worker at the airport suggested Thursday the plane didn't use the full length of the runway and simply ran out of room.
Fowler said investigators were looking into that but added: "We do not have any information that there was an early takeoff point, that is substantially early."
Inspector Peter Lepine of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said most of the bodies were recovered from the wreckage but remained at the crash site.
The huge aircraft, which stopped in Halifax to refuel and take on cargo, was loaded with lawn tractors, parts, computer gear and 117,000 pounds (53,000 kilograms) of lobster and fish bound for Zaragosa, Spain.
Fowler said preliminary indications suggest the aircraft wasn't overloaded.
The crash was the fourth for the cargo company in 12 years and the second involving fatalities. All three previous crashes were in Nigeria.
Capt. John Power, operations manager for MK Airlines, arrived in Halifax late Thursday. He said none of the crew on the downed plane was involved in any of the company's other accidents. He also said he had flown with the captain of the downed plane for 14 years.