100 feared dead in Khartoum plane fireball

[Montague S]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...11/2270726.htm

interesting that the plane appears to have landed safely then exploded.

A Sudan Airways airliner has caught fire after landing at Khartoum airport in poor weather, killing more than 100 people, Sudanese national television said.

"Preliminary reports indicate that about half the 203 passengers on board are dead," a television presenter said.

There were 14 crew members on board but their fate was not immediately known.

The Airbus had just arrived from Jordanian capital Amman via Damascus when the accident occurred, the television said, adding that weather conditions were poor and that the capital had been hit first by a sandstorm and then by heavy showers.

"There was an explosion in one of the engines and the plane caught fire," airport director Yussef Ibrahim said in an interview.

"We cannot give exact figures," regarding victims, but "a large number of passengers are safe and well," he added, indicating that fewer people may have been killed than the television had reported.

Police official Mohammed Naguib al-Tayyeb had earlier told the broadcaster that most passengers had managed to escape the aircraft without injury but some had suffered burn wounds.

Police officials interviewed by the channel said the plane veered off the runway as it landed for reasons still to be determined.

Emergency services had rushed to the aircraft in "numbers" and were fighting the blaze.

Airport director Yusuf Ibrahim told Sudanese television the cause of the fire was not yet clear.

"Whether it is a technical reason, we don't know yet," he said.

"The plane was coming from Amman and Syria... it landed safely at Khartoum airport and they talked to the control tower which told them where to taxi. At this moment an explosion happened."

Families of passengers were waiting at the airport "in fear", the television said.

"Hospitals in Khartoum have received a great number of injured," the presenter said, adding that the casualties were in a stable condition.

Television pictures showed flames tearing through the upper section of the fuselage hours after the fire broke out and an emergency escape slide could be seen attached to one of the central doors of the plane.

Abbas al-Fadini, a member of the Sudanese parliament who was on the plane, told CNN television that the fire started from the right engine and then spread to the inside of the plane.

He said he was in the front of the plane and was among those who exited first.

Crew members were guiding people to the exit and some passengers injured were sent to local hospitals, he added.

In May this year, south Sudan's defence minister was killed in a plane crash along with at least 22 other people, most of them senior members of the southern former rebel leadership.

Lieutenant General Dominic Dim Deng's plane came down 375 kilometres from the southern capital Juba, killing everyone on board, including many army officers.

In July 2003, 115 people were killed when a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 was destroyed in a ball of fire as it attempted to land at the Red Sea coast resort of Port Sudan after apparently suffering an engine problem soon after take-off.

Apparently a A310

[Andrew P]

A310-324

rego ST-ATN
c/n 548
First flight 1990

[David C]

Initial report found here '

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=20080610-0

Dave C

For the better:

Sudan's national airline has been warned that all of its flights will be suspended from Monday for failing to comply with aviation requirements.

Sudan Airways has been told that it will not be allowed to fly unless it undertakes certain measures.

It comes less than two weeks after a Sudan Airways plane burst into flames after landing, killing 30 people.

The Civil Aviation Authority said the decision had nothing to do with the accident on 10 June.

Its director of safety and flight operations, Mohamed Hassan al-Mujammar, said Sudan Airways had failed to undertake measures outlined by the authority in an annual audit carried out at the end of May.

He said it was time to stop this type of non-compliance with international standards.

Safety record

As a result the company's Air Operators Certificate has been suspended from Monday, which will affect all international and domestic flights.

Mr Mujammar said the national carrier said it had been too preoccupied by the crash to take the actions urged by the CAA.

The airline has one month to appeal against the suspension or to carry out the necessary improvements.

No-one was available for comment from Sudan Airways.

An investigation into what caused the accident at Khartoum International Airport on 10 June is under way.

Sudan has a poor reputation for air safety, especially on domestic flights.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7467423.stm