Dubai (United Arab Emirates):
A plane belonging to a US-based cargo company crashed in the outskirts of Dubai on Friday evening, killing two crewmembers, officials said.
The United Arab Emirates' civil aviation authority said the bodies of the two crewmembers on board UPS aircraft were recovered from the wreckage of the plane.
The crash occurred in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain highway.
The UPS, however, has not confirmed any casualties. It merely said: "UPS Flight 6 from Dubai, to Cologne, DE, a 747-400 with two crewmembers on board crashed on takeoff."
The witnesses said they heard loud explosion as the plane caught fire following the crash and huge smoke filled the sky. They said the plane narrowly missed a nearby building.
Police cordoned off the area and ambulances were rushed to the scene, they said. Local officials, however, said that the accident happened in an uninhabited area and rescue operations were on.
A UPS cargo plane statement said: "This incident is very unfortunate and we will do everything we can to find the cause. Our thoughts go out to the crewmembers involved in the incident and their families."
In a statement, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said all measures had been taken to extinguish the fire and that bodies of two pilots were found at the scene of the crash.
"The concerned authorities are conducting necessary investigations to identify the cause of the crash," it said.
In October 2009, a Sudanese Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed in the desert outside Dubai, killing six crewmembers.
The United Arab Emirates' civil aviation authority said the bodies of the two crewmembers on board UPS aircraft were recovered from the wreckage of the plane.
The crash occurred in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain highway.
The UPS, however, has not confirmed any casualties. It merely said: "UPS Flight 6 from Dubai, to Cologne, DE, a 747-400 with two crewmembers on board crashed on takeoff."
The witnesses said they heard loud explosion as the plane caught fire following the crash and huge smoke filled the sky. They said the plane narrowly missed a nearby building.
Police cordoned off the area and ambulances were rushed to the scene, they said. Local officials, however, said that the accident happened in an uninhabited area and rescue operations were on.
A UPS cargo plane statement said: "This incident is very unfortunate and we will do everything we can to find the cause. Our thoughts go out to the crewmembers involved in the incident and their families."
In a statement, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said all measures had been taken to extinguish the fire and that bodies of two pilots were found at the scene of the crash.
"The concerned authorities are conducting necessary investigations to identify the cause of the crash," it said.
In October 2009, a Sudanese Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed in the desert outside Dubai, killing six crewmembers.
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