Toddler Survives Wreck

A Sudan Airways 737 went down minutes after takeoff from Port Sudan Tuesday, claiming all eleven crew, and all PAX but one. The sole survivor, Mohammed el-Fateh Osman, a boy of about three years' age, lost his right leg in the accident. It is unknown at press time whether his parents are among the other victims. Nearly all bodies, including those of some 15 other children and babies, were badly burned in the wreck.

Among the passengers were reported several foreign nationals, including some from France, China, Britain, India, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia; a senior Sudanese Air Force officer (Major-General Nur al-Hoda Fadlallah), and a member of Sudan's parliament.

Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Sudanese foreign minister, wasted no time in blaming Clinton-era US sanctions for the crash.

"This is a sad incident," he said from Mozambique. "We simply cannot get the parts to maintain our airplanes."

He explained that US the trade embargo against Sudan, which is on the US terrorist-nation list, kept the plane on the edges of airworthiness. 

A US State Department spokesman replied that there is no ban on parts that are required for the safety of flight of Sudanese civilian airliners; and he did not bring up the fact that no one yet knows exactly what caused the crash.

Mechanical trouble of some sort is indicated; the pilot had reported engine trouble on one side, and was returning to the airport, when the flight encountered a hillside.

The flight was bound for the capital, Khartoum. Officials ordered the immediate burial of all the victims, in a mass grave. The scene was such that the Moslem ritual washing and body preparation, as well as credible identification, could not be performed. The sad job of burial was completed before dark.

**   Report created 7/8/2003   Record 13  **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: SUDAN        Make/Model: B737      Description: 737-700, BBJ, C-40
  Date: 07/08/2003     Time: 0117
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
  City: PORT SUDAN, AFRICA   State:    Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  SUDAN AIRWAYS B737 CRASHED 10 KM NORTH OF PORT SUDAN, 116 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED AND ONE PERSON SERIOUSLY INJURIED, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, PORT SUDAN, AFRICA
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal: 116
                 # Crew:  0    Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass: 117   Fat: 116   Ser:   1     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Unknown      Operation: Air Carrier
  Departed: UNK                         Dep Date:    Dep. Time:
  Destination: UNK                      Flt Plan: UNK          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: UNK
  Last Clearance: UNK
  FAA FSDO: WASHINGTON, DC  (WA45)                Entry date: 07/08/2003