The UK government has been formally asked to reveal whether the stricken Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 747-100 freighter that glided over central London while on an emergency landing procedure was carrying a detainee in a rendition flight.
The 747 (N481EV) was en route to Wright Field, New York from Ramstein AFB, Germany, when the No 4 engine “ran down”, leading to Mayday being declared and a series of S-curves to slow the aircraft down before landing at London Heathrow airport (see diagram below).
However, a member of the UK parliament has requested clarification on speculation that the aircraft was carrying a military detainee as part of the transfer of terror suspects to US custody in places such as Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Conservative Member of Parliament Lee Scott has tabled a parliamentary question asking the government to reveal whether UK immigration boarded the flight after it touched down and what their findings were.
The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch bulletin into the incident records crew as four, with zero passengers. However, one of the crew is described as a “non-flying” flight engineer repositioning to the USA.
The report reveals rumours circulating at the time about the “nature of the cargo onboard the aircraft”. The aircraft was conducting flights on behalf of the US military, it says, and dangerous goods were declared.
Intrigue was heightened by the fact that the pilot requested clearance to land at Heathrow rather than official divert points such as Stansted, Glasgow Prestwick or air force bases. In the report, Evergreen is quoted as stating that the pilot did not know the proximity of other airports, having had visual of Heathrow, and did not realise his route would take him over inhabited areas.
The 747 is believed to have originated in the Middle East, the report says, and carried hazardous cargo that was later “clarified” as being a spare aero engine.
External link:
Download the Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch bulletin into the emergency landing of Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 747-100 on 24 April 2004.
Source: Flight International