There Was No Sudan Plane Crash This Week

By ANN Editor Pete Combs

The next sound you hear will be that of an editor falling on his sword.

Remember Tuesday's lead article -- about a Boeing 737 plane crash in Sudan? That indeed happened. But it happened almost a year ago -- even though it was reported as a recent accident on international wire services as well as foreign newspapers (and one of them STILL is). Somebody's computer glitched.

In scouring our sources for news we think is worthy of your attention, we came across a detailed article about the crash in a Middle Eastern newspaper. We cross-checked our information, as is our habit and were able to confirm that a 737 did go down near Port Sudan. But the dates on the material we originally sourced were a bit misleading. The aircraft actually went down July 8, 2003 -- despite a number of reports that it went down earlier this week.

I'm the editor. My job is to catch mistakes like this, not make them. I owe you, the reader, an apology and serve it up right here and now. If there's one thing a journalist hates more than being scooped, it's being wrong.

At ANN, we're working very hard to bring you the most relevant news in real-time. Mistakes sometimes happen and when they do, it's our policy to 'fess up and explain. Moreover, it's my responsibility to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I'm on it. To those of you who astutely caught this mistake, thanks for bringing it our attention. To all of you, thanks for reading.

FMI: pcombs@aero-news.net