Boeing 747 Cargo Plane Crashes in Afghanistan

[Jimbuna]

How terribly tragic

A National Air Cargo Boeing 747-400 freighter on behalf of US Mobility Command, registration N949CA performing cargo flight N8-102 from Bagram (Afghanistan) to Dubai Al Maktoum (United Arab Emirates) with 7 crew and cargo consisting of 5 military vehicles, has crashed shortly after takeoff from Bagram Air Base's runway 03 at 15:30L (11:00Z) and erupted into flames near the end of the runway within the perimeter of the Air Base. All 7 crew are reported perished in the crash.

http://avherald.com/h?article=46183bb4

[eddie]

Very tragic event. Sure will be glad when we finally leave that place.

May they rest in peace.

[Oberon]

This vid claims to be of the crash, although the date is off but the rest does look fairly geniune:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c32_1367332518

Very nasty indeed. RIP.

[AVGWarhawk]

OMG...the video. I can only imagine what the crew was thinking.

[HundertzehnGustav]

all i thoought was "the angle!!! pushhhhh the nose down!!!"

[Jimbuna]

Good grief!!

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

OMG...the video. I can only imagine what the crew was thinking.

The pilots at least where most likely busy trying to regain control of the aircraft.A skilled pilot must be able to focus on problem solving and try to regain control of the aircraft in that process they do not really have much time to think of anything else.



My guess judging from the footage is that they suffered a power failure in the engines or that the plane was over loaded or the cargo was not properly positioned.The latter even if the engines can handle the load can still be fatal as it makes the aircraft highly unstable.

A C-5 crashed shortly after take off from Ramestin AB Germany back in 1990 it had been overloaded but not by much and was simply unable to gain altitude.This problem can be exacerbated by a shorter runway which at the time in Germany the runway was about 2,000 ft shorter than it is now.

Load masters have a very important job and one that most people outside of certain parts of the military and cargo industry know little about.

The footage must be from an MP patrolling the base perimeter it is a worked dog team you can hear the dog yelp for some reason sensed the gravity if the situation.

I was at Bagram for a good while the take off angle is not that unusual for a large aircraft at least at the start of the footage.I notice that the plane tilts to its port side that to me implies that it was having trouble lifting all of a sudden if it had a heavy load and suddenly lost power on one side even just a small amount would become a serious situation very quickly.

At least the plane crashed in a field and not over the base or a populated area.


It is kind of weird seeing that footage the suddenness of it I used to have dreams sometimes when I was in the Air Force where a plane would crash very suddenly and unexpectedly right in front of me.Guess it was because I worked around aircraft everyday.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

or the cargo was not properly positioned.The latter even if the engines can handle the load can still be fatal as it makes the aircraft highly unstable.

Latest that I've heard is that it was carrying five twelve ton MRAPs and the load shifted. At such a critical point in flight, there was nothing they could have done. Like you say, goes to show the importance of the load master.