Afriqiyah crash at Tripoli

[MarkLawrence]

From JNB via Tripoli to London - one of their A330s

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37100560/ns ... ws-africa/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37100560/ns/world_news-africa/)

[JZ1]

Ariqiyah flies CRJ-9 to LHR. So hopefully it's not a 330.

[Derf]

Ariqiyah flies CRJ-9 to LHR. So hopefully it's not a 330.

in the link to the MSNBC article above it shows the crashed tail of their A330

Lots of info in the article.

[MarkLawrence]

The crash happened on landing at Tripoli - is was a 330.

[Mayi757]

Very sad and right before landing too on a flight all the way from JNB.

A330-200 reg. 5A-ONG delivered only 6 months ago. Almost a year after AF 447 (the first A332 to crash) was lost in the Atlantic.

http://i.planepictures.net/89/33/1258467794.jpg

[Iberia A340-600]

Ariqiyah flies CRJ-9 to LHR. So hopefully it's not a 330.

That's Libyan Airlines... Afriqyah flies the A330 to LGW.

Very unfortunate for Airbus and my condolences to the families. This is the second loss of a brand new frame for an African carrier in the past year, the first was a Kenya 737-800 that crashed shortly after departure from Beirut.

[Gerard]

A child the only survivor....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2 ... _liby.html (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/05/12/2010-05-12_child_miraculously_survives_deadly_afriqiyah_ai rways_plane_crash_in_tripoli_liby.html)

[T-Bird76]

A child the only survivor....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2 ... _liby.html (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/05/12/2010-05-12_child_miraculously_survives_deadly_afriqiyah_ai rways_plane_crash_in_tripoli_liby.html)

Rather amazing only one girl made it out and with rather minor injuries.

[Derf]

Holy crap, he lost his unit in the crash???
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it was a boy when the flight started!

Congrats to the boy, looking at the horrific images, it is hard to imagine anything living thru that!

[Delta777LR]

Sad to see another disaster of an Airbus A330.. Fantastic to see that a kid survived.. God bless..

[Speedbird1]

At first, some said that volcanic ash could have played a role in this horrific crash but scientists say the ash never spread west to Tripoli. I understand that the airport in Tripoli does not have a sophisticated landing system but the winds were light and there was at least 3 miles visibility. My condolences to the families.

[PhilDernerJr]

They said the plane crash just as it was about to land, but the crash site indicates otherwise to me. Aside from the tail, there are no sizable pieces and hardly any fire at all. Unless the boy was in the tail, I don't see how he could have survived, unless he was just thrown from the aircraft into a tree. Can't believe anyone would survive that.

By my guess, the site looks like the plane hit the ground at a high speed and angle, perhaps due to fuel starvation. Have we heard anything else?

[hiss srq]

On another website I have heard that they possibly declared an emergency for unknown reasons and advised ATC that they were coming in one way or another..... Again.... armchair speculation but that would lead me to beleive maybe fuel starvation as well??????? Also considering the lack of burn marks on any of the wreckage pics I have seen that would make sense.

[MarkLawrence]

One of the stories I have read seems to indicate the ash cloud from the Iceland volcano was also evident over North Africa - wonder if that was it.....

[MarkLawrence]

Looking at the ash cloud map today, it's not close to North Africa - so I question the articles that said that might be a cause.

Here is the ash cloud current status:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/ ... G=en&ART=3 (http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/volcanic?LANG=en&ART=3)

[Matt Molnar]

Looking at the ash cloud map today, it's not close to North Africa - so I question the articles that said that might be a cause.

Here is the ash cloud current status:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/ ... G=en&ART=3 (http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/volcanic?LANG=en&ART=3)
Yeah, from what I've heard the ash cloud was about 2,000 miles west at the time of the crash, so probably not a factor. Sandstorm would be more likely.

[Mayi757]

The A332 has an extra long wingspan that allows it to glide in even without fuel (AT Azores incident) and in this case plane was only half full. The terrain there looks flat and IMO had it been a normal glide after fuel starvation there should've been much larger pieces or a fuselage split in 2 or 3 parts with wings torn off.

The way the wreckage appears so fragmented, it seems like a violent high speed crash. Perhaps after a dive they tried to pull up for aerodynamic braking but didn't make it and slammed into the ground. This of course, coming from an armchair aviation dweeb :borat: