AMERICAN BOEING 747 CARGO JET CRASHES IN AFGHANISTAN
Orlando, Florida,21 Jumadil Akhir 1434/30 April 2013 (MINA) – A National Airlines Boeing 747-400 cargo plane (tail number N949CA) was involved in an accident at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, killing all seven crew members, the U.S. military said Monday (29/4).
At approximately 7 a.m. EDT, National Flight NCR 102 from Bagram, Afghanistan to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with seven crewmembers on board crashed on takeoff. None of the crew members survived and there is no word yet on their nationalities, according to www.npr.org and www.examiner.com reports monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
“This is a devastating loss for our family and we’ll work diligently with authorities to find the cause,” said National Airlines President Glen Joerger. “Most importantly, our thoughts and prayers are with our crewmembers and their families.”
“This was a purely cargo flight and no passengers were aboard,” National Airlines said in a press statement. “Cargo consisted of vehicles and routine general cargo.”
“National will release additional information as it becomes available, in cooperation with government authorities,” the airline said. “Our focus at this time is on the family members of those we’ve lost, and on assisting the National Transportation Safety Board and Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority in their investigations. As of now, the cause of the accident is unknown.”
This is the second deadly plane crash in Afghanistan in the past week. On Sunday, a U.S. military surveillance plane crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing all four Air Force personnel onboard. The crash is under investigation, although officials say there was no enemy activity in the area.
National Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Air Cargo Holdings. The airline is based in Orlando, Fla. and operates scheduled and on-demand cargo service globally and charter passenger service in the Middle East. (T/P07/E1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
