Plane crash in Libya kills more than 100 on board

A passenger plane has crashed in Libya, killing more than 100 people on board, officials in the capital Tripoli say.

The Airbus 330 crashed on landing at Tripoli airport after a flight from Johannesburg, Afriqiyah Airways said.
Sixty-one Dutch nationals were among those killed, Dutch tourism board ANWB said. A Dutch boy was the sole known survivor, the Libyans say.

British and South African passengers are also thought to have been on board. The 11 crew were said to be Libyan.


Nicky Knapp, a spokeswoman for Airports Company South Africa, said seven passengers were booked to connect to London Gatwick airport, 32 to Brussels, 42 to Dusseldorf in Germany, and one to Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

"Nationalities and names won't be revealed at this stage," she said.

"A 24-hour helpline has been set up to assist families and relatives."
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende confirmed that "several dozen" Dutch nationals were killed.
Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Ad Meijer said the boy who survived was undergoing surgery in Tripoli for his injuries, including broken bones.

Afriqiyah Airways said on its website: "We are very sorry to announce the tragic loss of Afriqiyah Airways flight 8U771 from Johannesburg in an accident during landing at Tripoli International Airport at 04:00 UTC (06:00 am Tripoli time) today Wednesday 12 May.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the victims. The search and rescue mission has now been completed."

Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan said 104 people had been on board the plane - 93 passengers and 11 crew.
He said that the remains of 96 victims had already been recovered.

An airline employee said the 11 crew were all thought to be Libyan nationals, but this has not been confirmed.
Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said said it was "aware of reports that there were British nationals on board the flight, but this has not been confirmed".

"We are urgently investigating. A consular team from the British Embassy are on their way to the airport. Consular staff in Tripoli are urgently seeking further details," it said.

Libya's state TV showed footage of a field scattered with pieces of plane debris, and police and rescuers walking with surgical masks and gloves.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Some reports suggest the plane crashed very close to the runway.

"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," a Libyan security official told news agency AFP.


A flight recorder has already been recovered, and officials hope this will provide some clues as to what caused the disaster.

However, Mr Zidan ruled out terrorism as the cause of the crash.

The airport is currently sealed off and ambulances have been going back and forth to the airport.
Our correspondent adds that the weather has been sunny and clear over the past few days.


Afriqiyah Airways is a low-cost Libyan airline founded nine years ago and operates a relatively new fleet of Airbus aircraft.


It flies many routes between Africa and Europe with passengers often transiting through Tripoli, our correspondent adds.


Daniel Hoeltgen, spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency, said the airline had undergone 10 recent safety inspections at European airports, with no significant safety findings, the Associated Press reports.

He added that a team of French crash investigators was already on its way to Tripoli to help Libyan officials determine the cause of the crash.

Plane Hits, Kills Man on South Carolina Beach

A single-engine plane shield oil on its windshield hit and killed a person on a Hilton Head beach as the master was trying to make an emergency landing.

The fellow was walking or jogging along Palmetto Dunes when the Experimental Lancair IV-P side hit him Monday evening, said Hilton Head Island fire besides rescue spokeswoman Joheida Fister.

The plane started leaking oil at about 13,000 feet and tried originally to occasion it to Hilton Head Airport, Fister uttered. The oil on the windshield blocked the pilot's vagary and he told authorities the propeller came do in the feature. When he tried to dock on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort besides Spa, the facet hit the beachgoer and came to outlive a evident farther withdrawn the beach, she said.

"I would trust to add it's pretty unusual," Fister said.

The names of the man killed, controller and passenger on the angle were not released. Fister told The Island packet newspaper the cicerone and passenger, both men, were not injured.

FAA records show the aircraft was registered to Edward I. Smith of Chesapeake, Va., with a certificate issued notoriety 2004. Nobody answered leading Tuesday at a phone allow for listed for Smith again a message was not pdq answered.

The plane uncherished Orlando at 4:45 p.m. and was headed as Virginia, Fister spoken. The four-seater element has a turbine engine, constraint be built from a kit and guilt good up to 370 mph, according to the Lancair Web site. The IV-P model has a pressurized cabin.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the familiar Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Fister said. A call belated Monday to an FAA spokeswoman was not like now returned.

Plane crashes into building in Austin, Texas

A small airplane crashed into a building in Austin, Texas, Thursday morning, according to Lynn Lundsford of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Firefighters used two ladder trucks and other equipment to hose down the blaze at the building, which police said was located in the 9400 block of Research Boulevard.

Cynthia Reed, who works in the building next to the one hit, told , she saw people who apparently were trapped.

"They were hanging out the windows, screaming for help," she said.

Officials said they did not know the cause for the crash.

"At this time we have no reason to believe there is a nexus to criminal or terrorist activity," said Matt Chandler, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. "We are in the process of coordinating with state officials and other federal partners to gather more information and at this time we will defer additional questions to local officials and the FAA."

NY Plane Crash Anniversary Observed With Walk

Folks also friends of the passengers killed when Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed outside Buffalo have begun a 10-mile memorial walk to documentation the tragedy's one-year anniversary.

About 200 people gathered at a fire hall moment Clarence and walked the succinct distance to the street where the Newark-to-Buffalo dash plunged activity a house, farcical all 49 on board and a man inside the home.

After saying a moment again laying a wreath at the now-vacant lot, the capture sign superficial for the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to complete the journey the ill-fated facet never finished.

''Miracle on the Hudson'' co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles is among those choicest the walk.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check lead forthwith because more information. AP's earlier story is below.

CLARENCE, N.Y.(AP) -- The Newark-to-Buffalo bit of Continental Connection sprint 3407 ended tragically early in a fiery thump into a family last Feb. 12. Now, folks and friends of the passengers killed plan to complete the journey.

Joined by ''Miracle on the Hudson'' co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, about 500 people are expected to stride from the crash station in suburban Clarence to Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Friday's first anniversary of the accident.

What would've been five miles by twist is about double on foot.

Organizers say the walk is meant to attention the lives lost, but also to violation proposed safety legislation that addresses pattern training, fatigue and other issues cited by investigators.

The crash killed all 49 people aboard the element and the home's hotelier.