Boeing 747 cargo jet crashes in eastern Canada

WIchita Business Journal ^ | Oct. 14, 2004 | American City Bus Journal News

[QQQQQ]

That's all I found. No additional details.

But this sounds peculiar: "it appears the tail section separated from the rest of the aircraft on takeoff."

[QQQQQ]

More detail:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3626403
Britons Die in Jumbo Jet Crash

A British cargo jet crashed in a fireball after its tail section apparently broke off during take-off from Nova Scotia today.


All seven crew members – including two Britons – were killed.

The Boeing 747 jumbo jet, owned by MK Airlines of East Sussex and loaded with lawn tractors and 58 tons of lobster and fish, crashed shortly before 4 a.m. (0800 BST) into a largely wooded area near an industrial park north of Halifax.

The flight had originated from Hartford, Connecticut, and stopped in Halifax for refuelling en route to Zaragoza, Spain.

“Right now, we can confirm that there are believed to be no survivors as a result of the downed airplane,” said Constable Joe Taplin of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The tail of the jet lay in a field at the end of the runway, inside the fence surrounding the airport. The rest of the plane cut a wide, V-shaped swath through woods and brush and came to rest in pieces less than a mile away. The tops of several trees and power poles were sheared off.

The weather at the time of the crash was good with a partly cloudy sky and light winds.

A pilot familiar with large planes said tails of jets such as the 747 occasionally strike the ground during rotation – the point in the take off sequence when the pilot pulls back on the control stick, lifting the nose off the ground. Large aircraft have so-called strike bars that protect the tail section.

The crash was the fourth for the cargo company in 12 years and the second involving fatalities. All three previous crashes were in Nigeria.

Witness Peter Lewis was dropping off his wife at the airport and saw two explosions that resembled lightning.

“As we were approaching we saw what I thought was heat lighting because I told everyone in the car that we’ve got heat lightning in the sky,” he said.

“That was only a quick one followed by a second one that was bigger. And then we seen a very bright orange light and I mean bright. It took up the whole sky.”

[Crazieman]

CBC

CNN

[Robert A Cook PE]

Hmn.

Two explosions eh?

Explosives/Sabotage in the cargo packages?

[QQQQQ]

U.S. Warns of Cargo-plane Threat
by Leslie Miller, Associated Press
Seattle Times - November 8, 2003

http://www.bluefish.org/cargopla.htm

WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department is warning law-enforcement officers al-Qaida might be plotting to fly cargo planes from overseas into such crucial targets in the United States as nuclear plants, bridges or dams, an agency official said last night.

[CaptSkip]

A pilot familiar with large planes said tails of jets such as the 747 occasionally strike the ground during rotation – the point in the take off sequence when the pilot pulls back on the control stick, lifting the nose off the ground. Large aircraft have so-called strike bars that protect the tail section.

Pilot error?

[Rutles4Ever]

Two explosions eh?

Explosives/Sabotage in the cargo packages?

More like the plane hitting power lines on the way down.

[Esther Ruth]

“As we were approaching we saw what I thought was heat lighting because I told everyone in the car that we’ve got heat lightning in the sky,”

SAMs??

[Rutles4Ever]

Article says it sheared off the tops of power poles. This would produce a neat "lightning" effect.

[CaptSkip]

We must destroy the infidel fishing and tractor industry!

Allah Akbar???

[mdmathis6]

Talk about your airline bouillabaisse...

[Rutles4Ever]

Not sure how this relates to the story. There's no indication the plane was hijacked, and there's no reason to assume terrorism was involved.

[laotzu]

"the infidel fishing and tractor industry"

LOL. Good one.

[CaptSkip]

More like the plane hitting power lines on the way down.

It was taking off for Spain, having just refueled, loaded and full of gas!

[ken5050]

Load shift?..The lobsters all walked aft, thus shifting the plane's center of gravity..

[OldSgt.]

Ya, for the tail section to depart/ structural damage/ Repeated strikes perhaps would indicate pilot errors.

Cargo companies are notorious for failures to perform needed/ required Maintenance. Search, Code of Federal Regulations ( CFR )Title 14, FAA Part 135 revocations.

[McGavin999]

What? The tail section seperated? Sounds like terrorism to me.

[UNGN]

Aviation Safety Network

[CaptSkip]

Load shift?..The lobsters all walked aft, thus shifting the plane's center of gravity..

Funny, but a good possibility for a tail-heavy slam severe enough to sheer off a heavy's entire tail section?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The old UK Vulcan bomber had a strike bar below the tail section. At an air show some years back, I asked the Brit pilot about this foot-long device and he said there were three lights on his console to report its position, green, orange and flashing red. The red light meant that he had lifted off too sharply and the strike bar was gone.