UPS B747-400 crash near Dubai International Airport kills two

UPS confirmed (04-Sep-2010) two crew members lost their lives in a crash on 03-Sep-2010 near Dubai International Airport shortly after takeoff. The two pilots were flying a 747-400 en route to Cologne, Germany. The aircraft, was three years old, entering UPS service from the Boeing production line in Sep-2007. The airframe had flown 9977 hours, completing 1764 take-offs and landings. It was up to date on all maintenance, having completed a major inspection in Jun-2010. [more - Boeing] [more - UPS] [more - GCAA]

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is dispatching an aviation investigation team to assist the General Civil Aviation Authority (GACC) of the United Arab Emirates in the crash investigation. The GCAA will take the lead on the investigation and release all information on the progress of the investigation.

GCAA: "Twenty-two minutes after take-off, information was received from Bahrain that the aircraft was returning to Dubai Airport with smoke in the cockpit. The plane was unable to maintain altitude and requested the airport for landing. The aircraft's approach, however, was high, and it flew over the airport and made a right turn. It then quickly shed altitude and radar contact was lost around 7.42pm (1542 GMT), less than an hour after the plane had departed ... The investigation team recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) approximately six hours after the accident, and the team 'is continuing the recovery effort to locate the digital flight data recorder (DFDR)." GCAA statement.