Flight Safety Information May 12, 2010 - No. 093 In This Issue Child may be lone survivor in Libya plane crash Libyan Airliner Down, 103 Passengers And Crew Reported Lost Libya plane crash kills 103, Libyan authorities rule out terrorism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Child may be lone survivor in Libya plane crash (CNN) -- A Dutch child is believed to be the only survivor of a passenger plane crash in Libya Wednesday that may have killed more than 100 people, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said. The plane was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew members when it crashed while trying to land at the Tripoli International Airport. The boy was undergoing surgery at a hospital in the Libyan capital of Tripoli after the Afriqiyah Airways plane that left Johannesburg crashed as it neared the end of its flight. The Dutch ministry said it had a representative at the hospital waiting to identify the boy, believed to be age 10. He apparently suffered bone injuries. Nicky Knapp, a representative of the Airports Company South Africa, provided the breakdown in the destinations of the passengers aboard: seven to London, 32 to Brussels, 42 to Dusseldorf, one to Paris, and 11 to Libya. She was speaking on behalf of Afriqiyah Airways. The plane, an Airbus A330-200, was at the tail end of its nearly nine-hour-long flight when it crashed. "We express our sincere regret and sadness on behalf of the airline. As well, we would like to express our condolences to the relatives and friends of those who had passengers on Flight 8U771 destined for Tripoli late last night, due to arrive around 6 o'clock this morning," she said. Calling the incident a tragedy, Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament said "some 100 people have died no doubt from many countries around the world." He said the child's survival "given this tragic event, is truly a miracle." The Dutch Royal Touring Club said 61 of 62 Dutch passengers on the plane died. A Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said the government was trying to get more information about those aboard. The British Foreign Office said it was looking into whether British nationals were on board the flight. At the crash site, workers with surgical masks combed through the smoldering wreckage that spilled over a large area. A wheel lay atop a pile of bags. Two green airline seats sat upright and intact amid burned parts of the aircraft. Officials recovered the plane's flight data recorder, which investigators use to piece together a flight's last minutes. The Tripoli-based Afriqiyah (Arabic for "African") operates flights to four continents. The planes in the fleet carry the logo 9.9.99 -- the date when the African Union was formed. The Airbus that crashed is one of three Airbus 330-200s that the airline owns. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Libyan Airliner Down, 103 Passengers And Crew Reported Lost A330 "Disintegrated" On Landing. One Child Survives A Libyan Airbus A330 landing in Tripoli after a flight from South Africa has reportedly "disintegrated" on landing at Tripoli Airport, killing 103 of the passengers and crew on board, but leaving a "miracle" survivor ... an 8-year-old boy. The Afriqiyah Airways airliner "broke up massively" as it landed about 0600 local time, according to Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan. While the cause of the accident is still not known, Zidan says terrorism is not being considered as a factor. "There were 104 people on board -- 93 passengers and 11 crew members," Zidan told a media conference, adding that the remains of 96 victims had already been recovered. The Dutch child was the only surviver. "His life is not in danger," Zidan said, adding that "the sole survivor" was in a Tripoli hospital. The international new service AFP reports that witnesses said the airplane was breaking up as it came down to land in clear weather. A security official who requested anonymity said it "exploded on landing." Bongani Sithole, an official of Afriqiyah Airways at Johannesburg airport, said the crash happened "one meter (yard) away from the runway." Minister Zidan said there were Libyans, Africans, and Europeans aboard the plane. In a statement on its website, Afriqiyah Airways said: "Afriqiyah Airways is working together with the South African immigration and airport Authorities to determine the exact identities and nationalities of the passengers on board of flight 771 that was tragically lost this morning. As soon as those are available Afriqiyah Airways will work with the competent agencies concerned to inform the next of kin." The airline, the first to be fully owned by the Libyan state, began service in 2001. It leased 5 Airbus aircraft to start operations, and had signed a deal at the Paris Air Show in 2007 with Airbus for 11 additional aircraft. FMI: http://www.afriqiyah.aero, http://lycaa.org/web/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Libya plane crash kills 103, Libyan authorities rule out terrorism An Afriqiyah Airline jet carrying 104 people crashed on arrival at Tripoli's airport. The Libya plane crash killed all but one of the passengers, a young Dutch boy. Johannesburg, South Africa A Libyan-operated Airbus 330-200 carrying 104 people from Johannesburg crashed on arrival at Tripoli's airport this morning in what were described as foggy conditions. Libyan authorities confirmed that all but one of the passengers were killed; the survivor was an 8-year-old boy of Dutch nationality. Witnesses said the plane had crashed just short of the runway. "The aircraft is an Airbus A330, which as far as we know had 93 passengers and 11 crew members on board," said the South African Civil Aviation Authority on its website. South Africa's CAA indicated limited contact with Libyan authorities so far. "We have had no formal request for any information or assistance from Libya CAA," said Palesa Malwandla, spokeswoman for the South African Civil Aviation Authority in Johannesburg." Libya's Civil Aviation authority will be conducting the investigation. Some analysts say determining the causes of the crash should be easier than the recent case of an Air France Airbus that crashed over the sea. "The one thing that they have with regard to this crash is they have the aircraft, and if they have the aircraft, they have the recorders as well," said Curt Lewis, an aircraft safety expert with Curt Lewis & Associates in Arlington, Texas. "That gives them far more information to go on versus the Air France accident." Afriqiyah Airline officials say they will investigate why the plane broke up so massively upon landing, but ruled out terrorism. Many of the persons on board appear to be South Africans, Afriqiyah officials say, although an official from the Hague says that 61 of them were Dutch passport-holders. Nearly a quarter of the passengers had tickets for onward travel to London. Afriqiyah Airlines is one of Africa's many low-cost airlines providing flights to Europe, Africa, and Asia, and it has no previous record of accidents. Afriqiyah's entire fleet are made by Airbus, which has recently had a string of devastating crashes. The Airbus A330-200, the plane involved in the Afriqiyah crash, has a good but not perfect record, according to the Flight Safety Foundation. The A330-200 was the same model of plane involved in the Air France Flight 447 crash of June 1, 2009, in which 228 were killed. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0512/Libya-plane-crash-kills-103-Libyan-authorities-rule-out-terrorism [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103391947243&s=6053&e=001zbu03LdYqcaAaA0olSLUpptJLUT_eZ3d9__H_mZZwLhSB_jgbA8ABBFBybp0fWB-DTUGMXBdeUnQhO2BqKoL4vkHacDVRiUzHG5xRu1WIY_m3idIBlJsC4ifvwM2fUr1wvD5Sq_dOzkt3zExcZfKMeQCO8CbeJceJOjmZ45AwhcHn4V4XihpYu11Wykdo7_zC0r8q7o_yC4A1nQyRNaVExlwipIouC00qCQofqoMQMGXzeulzXREZg==]. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC