BRUSSELS (AFP)
An American-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed as it took off at Brussels airport on Sunday and broke in two, but the five-strong crew escaped without injury, airport officials told AFP.
The jumbo jet came to rest at the end of the runway some 500 meters (yards) from housing in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem after the crash, which occurred at 1130 GMT.
The massive four-engined jet belonged to Kalitta Air, airport spokeswoman Tru Lefevere said.
The five-strong crew members were all American, 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.
Brussels airport is situated about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the Belgian capital.
Some local residents have been campaigning to have this particular runway closed, and said Sunday's crash was predictable.
"This was very close to a catastrophe," said Frederic Petit of the local residents' association. "Imagine if it was an aircraft full of passengers!"
"Since 2004, freight planes have been using this runway on Saturdays and Sundays, yet it is 1000 metres (yards) shorter than the others," he added.
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.
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. |
