Azerbaijani cargo plane crashes in Urumqi

An Il-76 cargo plane of Azerbaijan crashed at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang in northwest China, killing all seven crew members aboard.

Police said black boxes remain aboard the ill-fated Azerbaijan cargo plane and will be left untouched for inspections by experts from the National Civil Aviation Administration who are on the way to investigate the cause of the crash.

Firefighters are pumping out remaining 40 tons of fuel that was left in two big fuel tanks under the burnt-down plane's left and right wings. They said the work is expected to be completed by early Wednesday morning.

Two small tan trucks are operating under the wings and two fireengines are standing by in case of any accidents.

Parts of the plane and the cargo it carried are scattered in a 2-square kilometer area around the site which has been sealed off by the police.

The plane, with a crew of 7, was supposed to operate a mission from Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province in north China, to Baku of Azerbaijan via Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang. It took off from Taiyuan Airport at 5:50 a.m. and landed at Urumqi Airport at 9:10 a.m.

No people on the ground were hurt, and slight damages of some houses were reported. According to rescuers, some 80 percent of the daily necessities carried on the plane were burnt.

Azerbaijani cargo plane crashes in Urumqi

The plane crashed into the local Sanping Farm 10 kilometers from the airport two minutes after it took off at the airport. The pilots of the cargo plane obviously tried emergency landing but failed before the crash, eyewitness said. Ma Guijun, a farmer with Sanping Farm, said when he and three other people were enjoying the cool under a tree, they saw a plane landed into the cropland some 2 km away but kept sliding to the rear part of the house of Ma Jianjun, a local farmer, and ended in his fodder pond there.

Ma Yuelan, a taxi driver, said she saw the shaky plane seem to be looking for an open area to land as she was riding on the freeway.

"The plane touched the ground in a cotton field but kept sliding, with the fuselage resting on one side and left wing poking into the earth," said the taxi driver. "I believe the plane fell apart in the process of sliding. And the ground where the plane slid through was full of parts of the plane and cargo from the plane."

Zhang Yuping, wife of Ma Jianjun, was doing chores at home when the plane crashed. When she heard the big explosion, she thought it might be an accident on a highway before her home.

"But nothing happened on the highway, so I turned my head to the back window, I saw a big plane flying toward my house and thought that is the end of my life," Zhang recalled, "then, somehow the plane swerved and stopped before it could reach the house."

During sliding, the plane blew sand into the sky, soon smoke and fire were seen coming from the plane, followed by three rounds of explosion, recalled Ma Guijun who quickly went away with his fellow villagers to help more people evacuate.

Rescue workers arrived soon. Because of strong wind, the rescue operations are carried out with great difficulty amid dusty atmosphere caused by the strong wind.

No people on the ground were hurt, and slight damages of some houses were reported.

According to rescuers, some 80 percent of the daily necessities carried on the plane were burnt.

Nearly 1,000 police officers, armed police and civilians took part in the efforts to search for the dead crew men and deal with the aftermath.

By People's Daily Online