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Discuss this article (2 Comments)Sharjah Airport cleared over plane crash tragedy
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Sunday, 25 October 2009
The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Sunday ruled out any possibility that operations at Sharjah International Airport contributed to last week's plane crash tragedy.
In a preliminary report, the GCAA said: "Preliminary investigations did not indicate any concerns with Sharjah International Airport infrastructure and operations that could contribute towards the accident."
The statement added: "Earlier this year, the Sharjah International Airport was issued with an Aerodrome Licence by GCAA. The GCAA is conducting numerous inspections and audits to Sharjah airport and to all UAE airports to ensure the highest safety and security standards that are complied with international regulations."
Related: Watch footage of Sharjah plane crash
Related: Six dead in Sharjah plane crash
In its report on the tragic accident involving a Boeing 707 cargo plane on October 21 in which six crew members died, the GCAA revealed more details about how the crash happened.
It said the aircraft, which was registered in Sudan and operated by Azza Transport, had departed from Sharjah International Airport at 3.29pm and crashed within two minutes of take-off from the airport.
"The B707 took-off from Sharjah Airport to Khartoom and after take-off and during initial climb, a part of the airframe located around the engine separated from the airframe and fell on the runway," it said.
"Approximately after 20 seconds into the flight while the aircraft was found to be on a right turn which continued until it crashed approximately 1.2 kilometres from the end of the runway 12 of Sharjah Airport."
The aircraft's cargo included air conditioning units, auto parts, computers, and some tools, the report said.
The GCAA has temporarily banned Azza Transport from operating in the UAE as a preventive measure until investigations into the cause of the accident have been completed.
An investigation team comprising five experts from Regulation and Investigation Section in the GCAA is leading the investigation.
The authority added that it would be "premature to announce the cause of accident before the investigation is concluded".
READERS' COMMENTS
Disclaimer: The views expressed here by our readers are not necessarily shared by ArabianBusiness.com or its employees.
Sharjah Plane Crash
Posted by Harry, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Monday 26 October 2009 at 13:28 UAE time
Sad though it is especially for the families of the bereaved and our sympathies for them all. It has to be expected that such accidents do and will occur especially with older planes.
Inspection however thorough cannot be carried out very effectively on some areas. All mechanical equipments are designed and built for a finite life. This includes aeroplanes.
Rather than completely scrap the planes after it's useful life is over they are sold to relatively poor operators whose access to spare parts including experienced maintenance personnel is very limited.
Replacement of some parts may increase the useful service life but there is always the risk of some other component not functioning optimaly as in this case.
Posted by Harry, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Monday 26 October 2009 at 13:28 UAE time
Sad though it is especially for the families of the bereaved and our sympathies for them all. It has to be expected that such accidents do and will occur especially with older planes.
Inspection however thorough cannot be carried out very effectively on some areas. All mechanical equipments are designed and built for a finite life. This includes aeroplanes.
Rather than completely scrap the planes after it's useful life is over they are sold to relatively poor operators whose access to spare parts including experienced maintenance personnel is very limited.
Replacement of some parts may increase the useful service life but there is always the risk of some other component not functioning optimaly as in this case.
Plane was overloaded
Posted by AliBaba, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 26 October 2009 at 08:16 UAE time
Has anyone checked the exact take-off weight of the plane based on the payload being carried and the fuel on board and the available take-off weight at the time of departure - It is normal practise for these cowboy operators to take-off over weight in order to avoid uplifting expensive fuel at the next station especially flights going to Afghanistan and Iraq... Its time the authorities started making audit checks of the loadsheets to see just how overloaded these planes are - noramlly not a problem until there is an engine problem or a bit falls of the plane as in this trajic case - next time the plane might end up in a residential area with higher loss of life - then it will be too late for the authorities to act...
Posted by AliBaba, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 26 October 2009 at 08:16 UAE time
Has anyone checked the exact take-off weight of the plane based on the payload being carried and the fuel on board and the available take-off weight at the time of departure - It is normal practise for these cowboy operators to take-off over weight in order to avoid uplifting expensive fuel at the next station especially flights going to Afghanistan and Iraq... Its time the authorities started making audit checks of the loadsheets to see just how overloaded these planes are - noramlly not a problem until there is an engine problem or a bit falls of the plane as in this trajic case - next time the plane might end up in a residential area with higher loss of life - then it will be too late for the authorities to act...
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