Editorials

A 747 CRASHES AND NO-ONE KNOWS.

11/09/10 16:17 Filed in: Air Safety | Boeing
A well-maintained and operated Boeing 747-400 owned by the world's largest parcel service, UPS, performed a normal takeoff from Dubai.

It headed off to Cologne, transferring to Bahrain's ATC frequency.

Soon an onboard fire became evident and the crew declared an emergency, turning back to Dubai.

Authorities made available both Doha and Dubai airports to receive the emergency. Dubai's rescue fire fighting service is Category 10, to handle the Airbus A380s. A jumbo only requires 9. 

The Pilots chose Dubai, but conducted an approach too high, and too fast. It is thought that the crew were dead before the aircraft started the Dubai ILS, 4,000 feet too high.

Sadly the smoke was too thick for the pilots to see the radio panel to change frequencies, so ATC chat was with Bahrain, and when they were out of range, relayed via another aircraft UAE 001. That aircraft’s Captain was the last person to speak to the UPS crew. Incidentally he was conducting his last flight before retirement.

After tracking on the localiser it was soon descending, screaming overhead 580 houses in the 'Silicon Oasis' suburb —populated by many Australians. Moments later it slammed into the ground, killing its crew and traumatising hundreds of horrified adults and children who were first hit by a pressure wave and then staggered by the sight of a massive fireball in the night sky; (it was 7:39pm local on Friday night 3rd September 2010 ... 02:39 AEST).  

The jumbo made it past the suburb and into a military base, bouncing once in a car park and then exploding in flames. A number of expat pilots ran to the wreckage after initially mistaking the aircraft for a passenger flight.

It was the lead story on CNN, carrying the same weight as the Darfield, NZ earthquake. For it NOT to be reported by the ABC or commercial radio news, the weekend newspapers or television makes you wonder just how myopic the Australian media really is. Local flooding, a small plane crash in NZ, and the Darfield earthquake; the AFL and ongoing election ramblings taking precedent.

Maybe the 747s disintegration was ignored because it crashed in Dubai.

My concerns are these:

1. It was lead story on many news services in the world.

2. It is not a shonky carrier, (instead, one of the elite).

3. The pilots were not drunk Russians quaffing Vodka, they were highly trained and skilled.

4. The ICAO regulations regarding Dangerous Goods are, these days, extremely strict and well-regulated ... this is a very rare occurrence. So what the hell happened?

5. There must be thousands of people affected, if only by the destruction of their parcels, letters and so on.

6. Terrorism cannot be ruled-out. UPS is a US carrier. 

What is going on when the Australian media misses a story like this? What else are they missing on weekends?



11th Sept 2010


[ Subsequently there were two bombs found which had been destined for freight aircraft. Each had originated in Yemen. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have since claimed responsibility for the UPS crash:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda_in_the_Arabian_Peninsula#2010 ]

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