China Cargo Plane Crash Kills Three Americans

by Amy Judd | November 28, 2009 at 03:13 pm

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In China today, a cargo plane crashed during takeoff from Shanghai's airport, killing the three American crew members on board and injuring four others.

The plane was Zimbabwe registered and it crashed in to flames, closing two runways at the Pudong airport. This delayed over 30 international flights and left about 4,000 travelers waiting at the airport.

The MD-11 cargo plane, operated by Zimbabwe-based Avient Aviation, was heading to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Xinhua said. Avient's chief operating officer, Simon Clarke, refused to say what cargo it was carrying.

It is thought that as the plane was taking off, the aircraft's tail stuck in the ground, and then it went off the runway and caught on fire. There were seven crew members on board, and three of them died in the crash. Their names have not yet been released. The other crew members were from Indonesia, Belgium and Zimbabwe.

It is not known what cargo the plane was carrying, but the company is fully trained to move dangerous goods, although they stated they do not carry arms or ammunition.