Slight Injuries, Serious Aircraft Damage Reported

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 05.25.08 1530 EDT: A Boeing 747-200 cargo aircraft skidded off the end of a runway and into a field in Brussels, Belgium Sunday afternoon, in an aborted takeoff attempt. The aircraft, owned by US-based cargo carrier Kalitta Air, came to rest after breaking apart at the end of runway 20 at the Brussels Airport around 1330 local time.

Four of the five crewmembers aboard were slightly injured and hospitalized said Jan Van der Cruysse, spokesman at the airport. "The plane is very seriously damaged," he said.

Photos from the scene show the aircraft fuselage broken at the wing leading edge and at the tail. According to the Canadian Press, the aircraft was full of fuel and stopped a little over a quarter mile from houses on the edge of the town of Zaventem and only feet from a commuter rail line.

"I just heard a boom, and then I saw the plane go by the cemetery and the plane seems to be going off, sliding off, and then I heard a second boom, that's all I saw," local resident Johan Schoelink told Associated Press Television.

Rail services to and from the airport were suspended as a safety precaution, but the crash did not affect other flights at the airport, Van der Cruysse said.

The aircraft was carrying over 77 tons of cargo, over half of which was diplomatic mail. Other cargo included a car and batteries. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Bahrain.

Francis Vermeiren, the mayor of the nearby town of Zaventem and coordinator of rescue efforts at the airport said that the aircraft did not catch fire though firefighters coated the wings, which were full of fuel, as a safety precaution.

Some fuel had leaked from the left wing but was contained and is being cleaned up.

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched an investigative team to the accident site. Joe Sedor has been designated the US Accredited Representative, and he will be accompanied by technical specialist in the areas of flight operations, aircraft systems, structures, and powerplants. The US team also includes technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney.

Kalitta Air, a cargo carrier based at Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti, MI, made regular flights from to and from Brussels with the aircraft, officials said.

The cause is being investigated and ANN will report more as the story develops.

FMI: www.brusselsairport.be/en/splash