The biggest fireball I ever saw: Dubai crash witness

DUBAI - “The biggest fireball ever seen” and a “massive 20-storey tower of smoke and flames” was how witnesses described the crash of a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane in Dubai, in which two crew members were killed.

The United Parcel Service (UPS) Flight 6 took off from Dubai International Airport Friday night for the company’s hub in Cologne, Germany, when it crashed at around 7.45 p.m. near the Nad al Sheba Military Camp, The National reported.

Both the pilot and the co-pilot died in the crash.

Joseph John, an academic, was driving with a friend when he saw the explosion.

“It was pitch black and I saw an orange glow and then I saw the biggest fireball I have ever seen,” he said.

Jordana Fawaz was on the Al Ain Road at around 7.45 p.m. when she noticed the low-flying plane.

“My mum commented on how low the plane was. It was all dark but looked as though it was going in to land. Then it disappeared from view and then all of a sudden a tower of fire and smoke came billowing from the ground,” she said.

“It looked like it just glided to the ground, it didn’t look unstable, just literally flying to the ground. Then all of a sudden a massive tower of smoke and flames - a good 20 storeys,” said Fawaz, who pulled her car over to the side of the road and called the emergency services.

Baba Raqman, a worker at an under-construction housing development project adjacent to the military base, was sitting outside with colleagues when he saw the plane disappear behind some of the buildings.

“I didn’t know if it was a small or large plane, then I saw lots of smoke and the fire,” he said.

The pilot radioed the air traffic control shortly after take-off and said there was a fire on board, said Saif al Suwaidi, director-general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

“He reported fire and smoke in the cockpit. He was asked to return but he missed the approach and then disappeared from the radar. We then found that he had crashed between Al Ain Road and the Emirates Road,” he said.

Ahmed al Sayegh, Dubai Civil Defence deputy chief, confirmed that the plane turned back due to a “technical error” after take-off.

UPS said it would not speculate on the cause of the crash. It was working with UAE government authorities but has also dispatched its own investigation team to Dubai.

Bob Lekites, airline and international operations manager for UPS, a package delivery company based in Atlanta, US, said: “This incident is very unfortunate and we will do everything we can to find the cause. Our thoughts go out to the crew members involved in the incident and their families.”

In October 2009, a Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Sharjah International Airport, killing all six Sudanese crew members on board.

In May this year, 158 people died when the Air India Express Flight 812 from Dubai overshot the runway at Mangalore in India’s Karnataka state.