Kyrgyzstan plane crash: At least 30 killed
Hong Kong (CNN)More than 30 people were killed when a Turkish cargo plane crashed into a village in Kyrgyzstan, Elira Sharipova, a spokeswoman for Kyrgyzstan’s Emergency Ministry told CNN.
“The number of victims is increasing quickly,” Sharipova said. “The fire service, rescue services, ministry of internal affairs and the prime minister and emergencies minister are there.”
The plane crashed at 7:18 a.m. local time about two kilometers (1.2 miles) away from the airport, according to Kyrgyztan’s state-run Kabar Agency.
Poor visibility was likely a factor, Kubatbek Boronov, the minister of Emergency Situations, told Kabar.
At least eight people — including children — were hospitalized, Kabar reported.
Fifteen homes were destroyed, according to Sharipova.
It’s not clear how many people were on board, but the freighter had seating for 10 — including two pilots, two observers and six additional passengers, according to a description on the airline’s website.
The Boeing 747 was headed from Hong Kong to Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishek, according to data from the tracking website FlightRadar24.
The plane was heading to Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishek.
“We’re aware of the report and monitoring the situation,” Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, told CNN in an email.
Turkish Airlines, the country’s national carrier, expressed their condolences to their fellow Turkish-based airline in a tweet.
Turkish Airlines also said in its tweet that the aircraft was operated by ACT Airlines, an Istanbul-based freight airline that according to its website operates a fleet entirely made up of jumbo 747s. ACT Airlines also operates as myCargo Airlines.
Poor visibility was likely a factor.
The plane that crashed was manufactured in 2003 and it first flew for Singapore Airlines Cargo, according to flight tracking from Flightradar24 and a detailed description of the aircraft on the company’s website.
Airlines have cut back on their use of the Boeing 747 as full-fledged passenger aircraft in recent years, but the jumbo airliner makes up the backbone of the global freight fleet.
The 747s enormous size and unique rising nose cargo door have made it the aircraft of choice for many cargo airlines.
Cargo plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan.
The aircraft has been involved in several crashes over the past decade, including a pair of accidents in 2010 and 2011 attributed to on board fires involving the shipment of lithium ion batteries. Shifting cargo aboard a National Airlines 747 was blamed for a crash in 2012 when the jumbo airliner was taking off from Kabul, Afghanistan, killing all seven aboard.
