Sharjah, October 22: A Sudanese cargo aircraft with six on board crashed and burned minutes after take-off from Sharjah airport on Wednesday afternoon.
The Sharjah Civil Defence said the six-member crew of the ageing Boeing 707 aircraft had died. Officials said their charred bodies were recovered.
This is the second mishap involving a Sudanese aircraft on the Sharjah-Khartoum route. Sudanese government officials told Khaleej Times on phone the Sudanese air fleet was outdated and US sanctions on the country made spare parts scarce.
The aircraft, owned by the Sudanese government and operated by Azza Air, had flown in from Khartoum at 12.30pm. Within minutes of being airborne again at 3.30pm, it crashed behind the Golf and Shooting Club near the airport free zone.
Sharjah Civil Defence Director-General Waheed Al Serkal said, “All the bodies have been recovered.” They have been identified as chief pilot Mohammed Ali, assistant pilot Alauddin Mohammed, flight engineer Mohammed Al Fadeh, and crewmen Abu Bakr, Tariq Al Sawi and Al Hadi.
Col Al Serkal said it took fire fighters from Samnan, Sharjah Airport and Sajjah stations two-and-a-half hours to put the flames out before the bodies and two black boxes could be recovered.
The plane seemed in trouble shortly after take-off. “I saw the plane trying to turn in the opposite direction,” eyewitness Murugan Ramalingam said. “But it suddenly crashed in the desert and caught fire.”
The captain’s cousin, Mohammed Osman, who was on site, said he had left Ali at the airport after having lunch together. “It is shattering.”
Sudanese Consul General, Issam Awad Mutwali, said safety checks were conducted before the flight took off.
“Mohammed Ali is one of the most qualified pilots in Sudan,” he said.
“The aircraft was not overloaded. Usually they take up to 40 tonnes of cargo and today it was only 31 tonnes. Everything was normal before they took off,” Mutwali said.
The Civil Aviation Authority closed the runway for an hour after the crash. Five Air Arabia flights were diverted to Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. “They returned to Sharjah after the runway opened,” a spokesperson said. Almost a dozen flights, scheduled to fly between 4pm and 6pm, were delayed. However, once the runway reopened after 5pm, normal services resumed.
Dhiyab Daniyas of the Civil Aviation Authority told Khaleej Times flights affected were both cargo and passenger. “It is normal to close during incidents like this,” he said.
“But operation is now normal.”
Shaikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Aviation, said safety inspections had been conducted before take-off. “The aviation authority is conducting investigation,” he said.
–Agencies