Aircraft

All eight people on board a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200 freighter that came down near Bogotá airport in Colombia survived the accident, despite the fact that the aircraft broke up completely in a forced landing and was destroyed by fire.

The 7 July accident was the second suffered by a Kalitta 747-200F in six weeks. On 25 May one of the US cargo carrier's 747-200Fs overran the runway during an abandoned take-off and broke up but, as in the Bogotá case, all those on board also survived.

The Bogotá aircraft (N714CK) was set to carry a payload of flowers for Centurion Air Cargo from Colombia to Miami, but Colombia's aviation agency Aerocivil confirms that the crew made a call reporting engine fire immediately after take-off. Shortly after that the aircraft crashed. The wreckage distribution indicates it was heading back to the airport when it force-landed.

© PA Photos

The Colombian authorities also confirm three fatalities in a house the aircraft hit, which is close to the Madrid township about 9km (5nm) north-west of the airport.

Flight's ACAS database shows the build date of the accident aircraft as 17 April 1981. It had accumulated 74,101h in 18,740 cycles and was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7Qs. The pilot in command has been identified as Capt Brian Beebe, a US citizen.

The US National Transportation Safety Board has also sent a team to assist the Mexican authorities with an investigation into a fatal McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 freighter accident on the approach to Saltillo airport. The 41-year-old aircraft (N199US), operated by USA Jet Airlines, crashed at around 01:15 on 6 July. The agency says the captain was killed and the first officer was critically injured, but there were no reported injuries on the ground.