Crew reported radio problems and smoke in the cockpit of B747
A UPS cargo plane crashed into the desert outside Dubai on Friday evening, killing both pilots. hey had reported radio problems and smoke in the cockpit of the B747-400 freighter shortly beforethe crash, the exact cause of which remains under investigation.
The pilots – both from the US – had reported problems and were attempting to return to Dubai’s main airport when the plane went down, said a preliminary report from the UAE’s General CivilAviation Authority (GCAA).
The aircraft was on its way to a UPS hub at Koln-Bonn airport in Germany when, just over 20 minutes into the flight, information was received from Bahrain that the aircraft was returning to Dubai airport with smoke in the cockpit, and it was unable to maintain altitude.
The GCAA said: “The UAE Air Traffic Control Centre issued a clearance when the aircraft was approximately 40km from touchdown. It passed overhead and made a right turn. “The aircraft tracked south-west and rapidly lost altitude and radar contact was lost. The aircraft crashed in an unpopulated area 50 minutes from departure.” Saif al-Suwaidi, the GCAA’s Director-General, told reporters the pilot had already switched his radio to a different frequency and couldn’t switch it back, so the only solution was to relay the messages from Bahrain to Dubai.
Scott Davis, UPS’s chairman and CEO, said: “This is a terrible tragedy and all of us at UPS extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims. We are doing our best to learn exactly what happened.” A UPS statement added: “UPS Airlines is co-operating with government authorities on the scene, and we have dispatched our own investigation team to the site to assist.”
The cockpit voice recorder was recovered about six hours after the accident. The GCAA said its investigation team was continuing the search for the digital flight data recorder, or “black box”.
Source: Katerina Kerr, IFW News, 06 September 2010