Oct. 14, 2004
CBC News
HALIFAX - A Boeing 747 cargo plane with seven crew members crashed while taking off from the Halifax airport early Thursday. None of the crew survived.
The MK Airlines jet, which had been leaving with a load of freight and seafood at about 3:50 a.m. local time, is lying in pieces in a wooded area near the runway.
The downed cargo plane.
Eyewitnesses reported an explosion and a huge fireball in the sky as the plane, carrying 200,000 litres of fuel, tried to lift off. Early video showed a bright orange glow coming from the crash site.
The crew members on board were from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Britain.
The plane is in pieces, with the jet's tail in a field at the end of the runway. A large piece of the charred fuselage is lying about one kilometre from the runway, at the end of a large swath cut through the woods.
There are reports that the plane's tail struck the runway while it was lifting off. The RCMP say they don't know whether the plane managed to get off the ground.
"The aircraft basically didn't take off. She continued her rotation and ran off the runway and ran into woods," Steve Anderson, a spokesperson with MK Airlines. "We've heard stories of fireballs and all the rest of it, but none of this has actually been confirmed."
The flight had stopped in Halifax to pick up a load of seafood and refuel before heading to Zaragosa, Spain. It had already picked up a load of freight in New York.
Anderson told CBC Newsworld that the 20-year-old plane had an "exemplary" service record.
"She's been an absolute gem."
The airline has been flying out of the Halifax airport once a week for the past 18 months and is familiar with the area. There was no rain and some cloud cover at the time of the crash.
Passengers had been stranded at the airport for several hours as flights were delayed, but commercial flights started leaving the airport around 9:30 a.m. local time.
Taxi drivers taking passengers to the airport had reported being turned back, saying all they had been told was that there was some sort of incident.
One witness told a Halifax radio station that he saw two bright flashes in the sky, which turned the sky bright orange.
The airport is about 35 kilometres from the city's downtown.
Written by CBC News Online staff
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/14/plane_halifax041014.html