Boeing 747 cargo plane crashes on take off at Brussels airport

[geronimotwo]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8e2_2N1_t8D2YPqSh8tw8qxQBig

BRUSSELS (AFP)  An American-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed as it took off at Brussels airport on Sunday and broke apart, but the five-strong crew escaped without injury, airport officials said.

The jumbo jet came to rest at the end of the runway some 500 metres (yards) from housing in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem after the crash, which occurred at 1130 GMT.

Local residents have long campaigned to have this particular runway shut down, and said the crash was entirely predictable.

The plane broke into three pieces, and stopped just metres short of electricity power cables.

The massive four-engined jet belonged to Kalitta Air, airport spokeswoman Tru Lefevere said.

Belgian TV reported that the plane was carrying diplomatic baggage belonging to the US Ambassador to Belgium, including a car and papers. The US embassy in Brussels refused to comment.

The five-strong crew were all Americans, and the plane was bound for the Gulf state of Bahrain, according to another airport official, Jan Van der Cruysse.

No obvious cause for the crash was immediately apparent and an inquiry has been opened.

"It seems that the plane must have suddenly left the runway as it was attempting take-off, and crashed. It was perhaps a technical problem, but we don't know," airport spokeswoman Tru Lefevre said.

"There are no injuries even though the five people on board have been taken to hospital," Lefevre added, noting that one of them was in a state of shock.

Officials said the crash had not significantly affected air traffic, but the rail link between the airport and the centre of the Belgian capital had been suspended as the line ran close to the scene of the crash.

A yellow escape chute could be seen emerging from the fuselage.

Brussels airport is situated about 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the Belgian capital.

"This was very close to a catastrophe," said Frederic Petit of the local residents' association. "Imagine if it had been an aircraft full of passengers!"

"Since 2004, freight planes have been using this runway on Saturdays and Sundays, yet it is 1,000 metres (yards) shorter than the others," he added.

"The politicians can no longer beat about the bush, this runway must immediately be closed to the heaviest carriers," said the Mayor of neighbouring Wezembeek-Oppem, Francois Van Hoobrouck.

Based in Michigan, and named after the owner Conrad Kalitta, Kalitta Air was founded in 2000 and has 18 Boeing 747s, according to its website.

In October 1992, an Israeli El Al Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed into a residential block after taking off from Amsterdam airport, killing the crew and 39 people on the ground. Both engines on its right wing had fallen off.

In December 1999, a Korean Air Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed soon after take-off from Stansted airport near London, killing all four crew.

Large-scale disaster was averted after the plane, with a cargo that included highly flammable chemicals, including paint and benzene, missed villages and crashed into fields.

Crew failure to deal with a faulty instrument emergency and maintenance faults was cited as the cause of the accident.

i was betting on a poorly balanced load, or loose cargo shifting.

[BobR]

I am betting a high speed abort after the decision point (V1), or a miscalculated V1, making them think they could still stop before the end of the runway. But whatever the cause, a high speed abort on a short runway is never good.

I know a couple of flight engineers that crew the 747's for Kalitta, neither of them were on the plane. But eventually I am sure I will find out the whats and whys of this mishap.

Thankfully there was no fire and the crew egressed safely.

bob

[Sergeant Bob]

i was betting on a poorly balanced load, or loose cargo shifting.

Do you have some info you're not sharing with the authorities?

Local residents have long campaigned to have this particular runway shut down, and said the crash was entirely predictable.

Quick, call the Psychic Network!

Belgian TV reported that the plane was carrying diplomatic baggage belonging to the US Ambassador to Belgium, including a car and papers. The US embassy in Brussels refused to comment.

It sounds like the plane was loaded pretty light.

"This was very close to a catastrophe," said Frederic Petit of the local residents' association. "Imagine if it had been an aircraft full of passengers!"

Imagine if it had been full of nukular bombs!

"Since 2004, freight planes have been using this runway on Saturdays and Sundays, yet it is 1,000 metres (yards) shorter than the others," he added.

Well, actually it's 651 meters shorter than the longest runway and 224 meters shorter than the next longest. In any case, it's plenty long for a lightly loaded 747. I've seen plenty of 747's and C5's take off from runways 1000 meters shorter (ZOMG!) than that.

In October 1992, an Israeli El Al Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed into a residential block after taking off from Amsterdam airport, killing the crew and 39 people on the ground. Both engines on its right wing had fallen off.

In December 1999, a Korean Air Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed soon after take-off from Stansted airport near London, killing all four crew.

Which has exactly what to do with a crash in Brussels?

This story is long on sensationalism and poor writing, and short on facts.

[geronimotwo]

i was betting on a poorly balanced load, or loose cargo shifting.

Do you have some info you're not sharing with the authorities?

merely speculation

This story is long on sensationalism and poor writing, and short on facts.

agreed

[Lennyjoe]

Looks like it had fatigue failure of some type.  Could of been missed during the last major overhaul.  Unbalanced load may of contributed to the final outcome but its hard to tell.  No way to really tell until the investigation crew takes an in-depth look.

I've done several aircraft mishap investigations in the past.  Outside of what you can see from the photo's, only time will tell after the investigation is done.  News doesn't tell you much and everything is speculation until the final report comes out.

Funny thing is, Kalitta  is owned by the same Kalitta that runs top fuel dragsters in the NHRA.  They've been having a sub par year on the track.  

[Northwoods]

Without being able to get up close and personal it's impossible to say for sure what kind of structural failure it was, but I would guess it was a garden variety static over-load failure, rather than fatigue.  The first report I read it sounded they'd at least rotated and the crew felt/heard something that made them think engine failure or something and so they tried to abort the takeoff.  Then the loads from what was probably the equivalent to a crash landing would have torn the plane open.  It would have been interesting to see a good quality film of the incident. 

[Gewehr98]

Oh, heck.  A little duct tape will fix that right up.   

[Manedwolf]

I facepalmed at a radio news report where they babbled that the plane had a "cargo of thousands of gallons of kerosene".

No, we generally call that "Jet A", and it's carried, yes, in the fuel tanks. 

[mfree]

over on gadling.com someone piped up as the sone of the pilot.

Report was, hearing a loud "explosion" in the cargo area and HSA past V1, plane ran off end of runway and struck an embankment causing the fuselage to fail.

[Tallpine]

a loud "explosion" in the cargo area

Well, at least they weren't somewhere over the South Pacific, off course to avoid weather, and out of radio contact ...

[mfree]

Well, that's why I put explosion in quotes. Any sudden noise can be an "explosion"... a strap with a couple tons tension on it letting go and smacking a cargo container on the side, for instance.

[Matthew Carberry]

I facepalmed at a radio news report where they babbled that the plane had a "cargo of thousands of gallons of kerosene".

No, we generally call that "Jet A", and it's carried, yes, in the fuel tanks. 

Then where do you keep the gas?

[Manedwolf]

Like to know what the captain said when they went out the ramp here and looked back at the back half of the aircraft.



Oh well. At least they got to have fun leaving it!

[Boomhauer]

This story is long on sensationalism and poor writing, and short on facts.

What aviation story doesn't fit this description in the mainstream media?

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

Hi Res pictures
Here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kalitta%20Air/Boeing%20747-209F/SCD/1357573/L/&width=1024&height=695&sok=&photo_nr=17&prev_id=1357679&next_id=1357575

And here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kalitta%20Air/Boeing%20747-209F/SCD/1357482/L/&width=1200&height=812&sok=&photo_nr=27&prev_id=1357450&next_id=1357377

and here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kalitta%20Air/Boeing%20747-209F/SCD/1357648/L/&width=1200&height=812&sok=&photo_nr=11&prev_id=1357768&next_id=1357707

[280plus]

Someone's got a lot of splainin' to do...