Rescue crew carry the injured pilot of a cargo plane that crashed in Kandal province, 18 km (11 miles) west of Phnom Penh, October 17 , 2007. A cargo plane flying between Cambodia and Singapore disappeared from radar late on Wednesday, leading officials to believe it had crashed. Further details, such as the number of people on board or the plane's cargo, were not immediately available. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaBy SOPHENG CHEANG,
Associated Press Writer
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Two Uzbek flight crew members were injured when their cargo plane crashed in a flooded rice field near Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, officials said Thursday.
Half of the 11-ton cargo of clothing was either damaged in water or snatched away by villagers living near the crash site Wednesday night, said Sok Sereyrak, a spokesman of Imtrec Aviation Co. Ltd., which operates the AN-12 plane.
He said the aircraft had five crew members from Uzbekistan aboard, and two were hospitalized with head and leg injuries.
The Russian-made plane was flying the cargo to Singapore before the crash. Sok Sereyrak said an investigation was being carried out to determine the cause of the accident.
After about an hour into the flight, the pilot reported the plane was having technical problems and turned back to Phnom Penh, Kim San, an official at the airport control tower, said Thursday.
"The pilot also attempted to land at the airport but the unfavorable condition of the plane forced him to land in the rice field instead," he said.
In June, 13 South Korean tourists were among 22 people who died when a Russian-made An-24 plane crashed in mountainous jungle in southern Cambodia. The others were three Czech tourists, five Cambodian airline employees and an Uzbek crew chief.
The aircraft, owned by the small Cambodian airline PMT Air, crashed during a storm not long before it was to land in Sihanoukville on the south coast.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said the crash was caused by bad weather, but South Korean news reports, citing the country's diplomats in Cambodia, suggested pilot error may have been responsible.
Half of the 11-ton cargo of clothing was either damaged in water or snatched away by villagers living near the crash site Wednesday night, said Sok Sereyrak, a spokesman of Imtrec Aviation Co. Ltd., which operates the AN-12 plane.
He said the aircraft had five crew members from Uzbekistan aboard, and two were hospitalized with head and leg injuries.
The Russian-made plane was flying the cargo to Singapore before the crash. Sok Sereyrak said an investigation was being carried out to determine the cause of the accident.
After about an hour into the flight, the pilot reported the plane was having technical problems and turned back to Phnom Penh, Kim San, an official at the airport control tower, said Thursday.
"The pilot also attempted to land at the airport but the unfavorable condition of the plane forced him to land in the rice field instead," he said.
In June, 13 South Korean tourists were among 22 people who died when a Russian-made An-24 plane crashed in mountainous jungle in southern Cambodia. The others were three Czech tourists, five Cambodian airline employees and an Uzbek crew chief.
The aircraft, owned by the small Cambodian airline PMT Air, crashed during a storm not long before it was to land in Sihanoukville on the south coast.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said the crash was caused by bad weather, but South Korean news reports, citing the country's diplomats in Cambodia, suggested pilot error may have been responsible.
4 comments:
It's too bad they didn't die. I'd be there going through their pockets for cold hard cash!
4:33PM those Ex Soviet are poor they have only Volka it their pokets!
Here comes Santa Claus,
here comes Santa Claus,
in a big plane,
bringing presents
for the poor,
in the heavey rain,
Da da da da ,
Da da da da,
Oh no ... no rapping, please.
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