MK Airlines 747 crashes Halifax , Canada

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 14 Oct 2004, 18:37

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

The 747 stopped in Halifax to refuel, it was loaded with lawn tractors and 53,000 kilograms of lobster and fish bound for Zaragosa, Spain.

A witness saw two explosions saying: "As we were approaching we saw what I thought was heat lightning. That was only a quick one followed by a second one that was bigger. And then we saw a very bright orange light - and I mean bright. It took up the whole sky."

Pictures from the scene showed an orange glow in the sky.
It took about 60 firefighters and 20 trucks about three hours to control a fire caused by burning jet fuel on the ground.
Aall seven crew on board got killed.
Aside from the usual three-person crew in the cockpit, the plane was also carrying a loadmaster and a spare crew. that makes 7.

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 14 Oct 2004, 18:56

National Post wrote:Bill Fowler, a TSB spokesman, said the downed jet was likely equipped with depleted uranium, a radioactive material often used as ballast in the rudders and wings of wide-body aircraft.

Depleted uranium is the dense, heavy waste produced during the making of nuclear fuel and weapons.

A 747 may contain as much as 1,500 kilograms of the material, which is denser than lead and 60 per cent as radioactive as natural uranium.

I never new that the B747 had radioactive materials on board. 8O
Maybe the B747 that went down in 1992 in Amsterdam has been equipped with these radioactive materials. That would explain the man in the white containment suits, which where on the scene but the public couldn't figure why, and the cronical diseases with a lot of people who where on the scene that evening.

Weird story...

Flybe · Post by **Flybe** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:05

My condolances to the family and friends of the crew.

I never new that the B747 had radioactive materials on board.

There is a topic on A.net on this. The crash in Amsterdam is even mentionned in it.: http://www.airliners.net/discussions/ge ... 1776318/4/

I'm curious to find out what exactly happened with the 747 of MK Airlines. A normal tailstrike seems to be not the only or most important cause, judging by the information above.

Greets,

Pieter

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:06

The crew were from South Africa and Zimbabwe, one source says.
The Foreign Office said two Britons were thought to be on board the MK Airlines cargo freighter.
But the aircraft's operator, based in Hartfield, East Sussex, said there was one South African and six Zimbabweans on board.

YACHTIE · Post by **YACHTIE** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:42

Got some pics of the crash site, thanks to some ex co-workers of mine at the HIA; not pretty. I know the geographical area exactly where the plane went done.
another sad day for Halifax NS Canada.

Ciao

[ Pictures removed, Angelfire not working. Please use coppermine or working webspace to show your images! ]

Post by **Bottie** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:50

uploaded them to my space:

thx for sharing them

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:51

Is the last picture showing the tail of tje plane ??

Man, it must have been a terrible crash

Chris

MKAirlines · Post by **MKAirlines** » 14 Oct 2004, 19:53

sad view

YACHTIE · Post by **YACHTIE** » 14 Oct 2004, 20:01

Got them uploaded to my album at : http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... &pos=-3606
and http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... 0024&pos=0
and
http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... 0024&pos=1

thant should work, sorry for the initial delay that angelfire site is really beginning to p$%^^&&ss me off..

Have a good day

C_J · Post by **C_J** » 14 Oct 2004, 20:04

sad news

TCAS_climb · Post by **TCAS_climb** » 14 Oct 2004, 21:59

regi wrote:If it is true what Wiloo says about the 4 crashes of MK, I wonder how MK can afford to keep flying. Must be quite costly to lose your fleet.

Check this page for the details: http://aviation-safety.net/database/ope ... p?var=1297

A crash is always bad for your business and your reputation in particular, but with plenty of cheap second-hand B747s on the market I'm not really worried, especially if all the aircraft were leased (don't overlook the insurance part). If this had been a passenger flight it would have been a totally different story because survivors and relatives desperately need cash and very quickly. When Swissair crashed the MD-11 nearby Halifax they immediately distributed credit cards to the relatives of the deads, as an advance on future compensations, so that they could "stay afloat" financially for a while. In this case I wonder what kind of treatment the relatives of the poor crew will get...

regi wrote:I can imagine that the airport authority at Ostend will be pressed to look closer into safety procedures, including maintenance, sparepart origin, crew qualification, loading procedures,...

On what grounds ??? It's absolutely not their business... The airport has its hands tied and can only rely on what the national authority says ! Even SAFA ramp checks, conducted by national civil aviation authorities on their soil, are not mandatory ! If the captain of the flight tells the inspectors to go screw themselves they have no other choice but to leave the aircraft.

Robair64 · Post by **Robair64** » 14 Oct 2004, 22:22

Does anyone have the names of the crew members?
Was informed that the Capt. was Mike Thornycroft, who was on the edge of retirement.
It will be a big loss for MK, both from a human as fm an equipment point of view.

buran · Post by **buran** » 15 Oct 2004, 00:10

Here's the last time I saw this plane at Ostend:

http://keyhole.freeprohost.com/airshow/ ... shpage.htm

JohnA · Post by **JohnA** » 15 Oct 2004, 00:18

regi wrote:But it was not a crash on Ostend, it was not a night flight, or a russian airliner

You were expecting Russian airliners to crash?

Why is that?

Are you a know-nothing?

How do you account for this commetary, Einstein?

The Times (UK)
August 28, 2004
Russian planes 'as good as ours'
By Tom Chesshyre

Russian aeroplanes have a very good safety record, despite the
popular misconception that they are dangerous, according to aviation
experts.

Speaking in the week that two Russian ailiners carrying 89 passengers and
crew crashed within minutes of each other, David Learmount,
operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine, said that
Russian carriers have an unfair reputation for being dangerous.

"On international flights, I would choose to fly with a Russian airline
(such as Aeroflot)," said Learmount. "They are cheaper and have a
safety record that is equal to that of airlines in the West."

He added: "Few people realise that before the collapse of the Soviet
Union,and since, Russia has a better average aviation safety record than
the rest of the world."

........................................

Just stuff the Russophobia, please. Get your facts right.

Flybe · Post by **Flybe** » 15 Oct 2004, 00:40

You were expecting Russian airliners to crash?

I think you misinterpreted his comment, JohnA. Seeing you are not from Belgium, and don't know Wiloo, i see why you could misinterpret this. Actually you gave part of the answer yourself. Russian aeroplanes have a very good safety record, despite the popular misconception that they are dangerous

Regi was pointing to Wiloo, an action group that fights to ban as many flights from Ostend (Belgium) as possible. They regularely accuse Russian aircrafts to be old, bad maintained, and so on. Just as they accuse many (african) airlines to be bad, not maintaining their aircrafts and so on. They have no proof of this and frankly have no leg to stand on. But they do manage to stirr up quite some feelings overhere in Belgium (and on Luchtzak in general 8) ).

Regi merely wanted to point out that, however Wiloo complained about MK (as they do about every airline flying to Ostend, saying that they are second range airlines), and indeed something happened (not the first time) to one of their aircrafts, Wiloo was wrong in saying that it would happen in Ostend, nor their accusations that Russian planes are bad (as it was an 747 that crashed), nor that it was a weapon transport (which they claim always happen from Ostend...).

So basically Regi just wanted to prove that Wiloo complains about everything, they had to be "correct" once (about MK), but still are wrong in 99% of their "predictions". So i call it *ironically* that they had luck with the crash.

But we shouldn't be focussing on Wiloo in this topic, let's keep our attention and compassion with the relatives and friends of the crew.

Greets,

Pieter

TCAS_climb · Post by **TCAS_climb** » 15 Oct 2004, 01:08

Slightly off-topic too, really sorry, but it won't be long.

The National Aerospace Laboratory in the Netherlands published in 2000 a study called "The Need to Improve Safety of Ad Hoc Cargo Operations".

Among a few other things, they tried to estimate how dangerous certain types of operations can be. Here are their results (the numbers indicate how many accidents occur per million flight between 1970 and 1999, based on the country of registration):

Europe
Pax ops: 1,16
Cargo ops: 1,08

North America
Pax ops: 0,52
Cargo ops: 2,50

South America
Pax ops: 2,12
Cargo ops: 9,02

Africa
Pax ops: 3,69
Cargo ops: 16,79

Asia
Pax ops: 3,83
Cargo ops: 6,16

Australasia
Pax ops: 0,20
Cargo ops: n/a

Aeroflot
Pax ops: 2,95
Cargo ops: 6,11
(Those numbers are only valid for the jets, not turboprops, operated by Aeroflot between 1980 and 1992)

David Learmount was there when the results were made public at a Flight Safety conference in Amsterdam, but he probably forgot it...

And by the way there's a little note right after the figures for Aeroflot, it says...

"Caution is necessary when comparing the “Aeroflot” accident rates with the other accident rates, as both the time period and the aircraft inclusion criteria are different compared to the previously calculated rates. It is noteworthy however that Aeroflot’s accident rate is almost as high as the accident rate in Asia, and given the break-up of Aeroflot that has occurred after the time period on which this rate was based, it is highly questionable whether this situation has improved in more recent years in the Commonwealth of Independent States."

So I'm really sorry if it upsets you, but until further notice I will not consider our safety levels as equal.

Aaah, those damn statistics are like mini-skirts: they suggest a lot but never show you the most important.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 15 Oct 2004, 01:17

Here is where it happened:

The report of CBC in REAL or Quicktime

Actually all what is mentioned above in the forum is said in this report....

My latest information says that 747 left from Ostend in Belgium, after three days on ground for technical reason.
The 20 year old 747 had a fuel upload of 200.000liters.
MK was flying to Halifax for 18 months now.

The investigation remains in the hands of the RCMP*'s Major Crimes Unit until criminal involvement has been ruled out, however. That's the same protocol that emergency workers in the province followed after Swissair's Flight 111 crashed off Peggy's Cove in 1998. And that's not in this report.

*RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
And for the ones that had any doubts:
In Zaragoza VIASA* built JEEP's, not only lawnmowers.
Where did your Jeep come from in your army service?
The Spanish company VIASA was licenced by Kaiser-Willys to build a version of the CJ-3B in its factory at Zaragoza. The vehicles were called Willys Viasa. A type of spanish jeep was called 'Campeadore' as El Cid was called Campeador, for reasons related to the city, but to know that you will have to read El Cid!

*Vehículos Industriales y Agrícolas, S.A.") I think it belongs to Nissan now (?)

Post by **Bottie** » 15 Oct 2004, 10:10

"Het Nieuwsblad" this morning:

Boeing uit Oostende crasht in Canada

Een boeing 747 van de maatschappij MK-Airlines stortte gisteren neer in het Canadese Halifax. Alle zeven bemanningsleden, zes uit Zimbabwe en één uit Zuid-Afrika, kwamen om. Het vliegtuig raakte bij het opstijgen met de staart de startbaan en vatte vuur. In Oostende, waar het vliegtuig was vertrokken na een driedaagse panne, heerst grote ongerustheid rond MK-Airlines. De maatschappij verhuisde onlangs vanuit het Britse Manston en wordt als er onveilig omschreven. De omwonenden van de luchthaven eisen het ontslag van luchthavenmanager Gino Verspauwen en een vliegverbod voor MK-airlines. Daar wil mobiliteitsminister Landuyt echter niet van weten.

Translation made by AltaVista Babel Fish (so don't blame me):

Boeing from oostende crasht in Canada

A boeing 747 of the society Mk-Airlines crashed down yesterday in the Canadian Halifax. All seven crew members, six from Zimbabwe and one South Africa, ended up for. The plane touched the start job at taking off with the tail and grasped fire. In oostende, where the plane had left after a three-day panne, large ongerustheid dominates around Mk-Airlines. The society moved from the British man barrel and is recently defined as unsafely. The omwonenden of the airport require the dismissal of airport manager Gino Verspauwen and a grounding for Mk-airlines. There mobility minister wants know Landuyt however not of.

(If I have the time to translate, I'll do ...

)

regi · Post by **regi** » 15 Oct 2004, 10:13

wow, Pieter got my point! Well yes, that was what I meant. Wiloo complains about everything at any occasion.
But coming back to the point of the russian airliners...please, not here. This is about the crash of a 747.

and what says the latest report on the BBC, after they found out some UK nationals were on board...

Seven die in Canada plane crash

Firefighters worked to secure the wreckage of the cargo plane
Four Britons, a German and two Zimbabweans were killed when a cargo plane crashed into a quarry on take-off, Canadian police have said.
The seven died when the Ghana-registered MK Airlines Boeing 747 crashed in Halifax, Canada, at about 0355 local time (0755 GMT) on Thursday.

Emergency services battled for four hours to quell the flames that engulfed the fuel-laden plane.

Earlier reports said six Zimbabweans and one South African were killed.

But later, Constable Joe Taplin, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: "There were four United Kingdom passport holders, one German passport holder and two Zimbabwe passport holders."

The cause of the crash remains unconfirmed, but a Canadian air safety official told Reuters that a video of the accident appeared to show the plane's tail piece break off while the plane was still within the airport perimeter.

Previous crash

Steve Anderson, a spokesman for MK Airlines, based in East Sussex, UK, said the company was sending a team to Nova Scotia.

Although it is based in the UK, MK Airlines' fleet of planes is registered in Ghana. The air cargo firm has been operating since 1990.

In November 2001, four Britons survived when an MK Airlines Boeing 747 crashed on approach to a Nigerian airstrip. One crew member died.

The Associated Press reported a witness near Halifax, Peter Lewis, as telling radio station CJCH that he saw two explosions near the airport.

"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," he said.

The plane had left New York loaded with general freight and tractors.

It flew to Halifax where it picked up fresh fish and was heading to Zaragoza, Spain.

Now Wiloo has a new topic: tails of 747's! Watch out for the man with the Tail-o-Meter!

waldova · Post by **waldova** » 15 Oct 2004, 11:33

I really can't understand those people in Ostend that are demanding the Director of Ostend airport to resign from his position. What the hell does he have to do with a crash that happened in Canada. Also this doesn't proof that MK airlines is unsafe. Should we ban Delta Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Swiss, KLM, ... from brussels because they had a crash before and they might be unsafe!! It is just stupid to think this way. MK airlines will have to be pretty safe if they got a license to fly in and over Belgium.

Also a little message to Bottie. Please don't use the translation tool of Altavista Babel Fish. Did you read your translation? It is awfull. Some words still in dutch and other words totally different from what it is supposed to be.

Aviation24.be

MK Airlines 747 crashes Halifax , Canada

Crew