Cargo plane crash kills at least 37
HONG KONG — A Turki sh c argo plane approaching the airport in Kyrgyzstan’s capital crashed early Monday, killing at least 37 people, most of them on the ground, according to the Kyrgyz government.
The Boeing 747, with a crew of four, was owned by ACT Airlines, and it was on its way to Istanbul from Hong Kong with a stopover in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, according to airport officials in the Central Asian city.
The plane was approaching Manas International Airport in Bishkek when it crashed into a village adjoining the airport. Kyrgyz officials said that 23 of the village’s 43 houses were destroyed, and some buildings burst into flames. There was fog at the time, but it was not clear if the weather played a role in the crash.
The Kyrgyz Emergencies Ministry said that at least 12 people had been taken to the hospital.
An image on the website of the television station owned by Kyrgyzstan’s government showed a large section of the nose of the aircraft, including the cockpit windows, on the ground after the plane apparently crashed through a building. Wreckage was strewed across a wide area.
A video of the crash scene showed emergency workers in a snow-covered neighborhood, with pieces of the plane interspersed among houses a nd wreckage i n flames. Tents were set up to help shelter displaced residents from temperatures of about 13 degrees Fahrenheit.
Kyrgyz officials said they would create a government commission to investigate why the plane came down.
The plane, built in 2003, was owned by ACT Airlines, a Turkish company that is 49 percent owned by the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, which has aviation, tourism and logistics units. ACT o per a t e s under t he name MyCargo Airlines.
The airline said Monday that the crash was not the result of “technical reasons or loading related factors” on the plane. The aircraft’s crew of four were all killed in the crash.