afrol News, 30 June - A Sudanese cargo plane has crashed near Khartoum airport today shortly after takeoff, killing at least four crew members on board. It is the second cargo plane crash in Sudan in a week and the third this month.

Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Abdul Hafez Abdulrahman confirmed that a chartered plane by a private cargo company, Ababel, crashed a kilometer from the airport soon after takeoff on a flight to Juba.

Witnesses at the airport said cargo plane took off at 0700 local time, but then experienced a problem on its left wing which eventually led to its crash in wasteland on the edge of Khartoum airport. "The whole plane blew up in a fireball as it lifted off," said a witness.

Another said plane parts were lying everywhere with dark patches of engine oil on plane, which he said could have been a source for a crash.

Last Friday, another cargo plane an Antonov 12, crashed near southern Sudanese town of Malaka, killing seven of its crew members.

Sudan Airliner known for its poor aviation record, had its license suspended a week ago for violating service requirements and civil aviation standards set in May this year and it had been given a month to appeal suspension or to carry out necessary improvements as suggested by CAA.

CAA has also launched an official inquiry into Sudan Airways to establish what could have caused a jetliner passenger plane to crash earlier this month, which killed 30 people, amid contradictory reports that either bad weather or technical failure was to blame for the crash.

Sudan airline is 30 percent owned by state, majority ownership of 49 percent having gone to the Kuwaiti Aref group a year ago, while Sudan's Al-Fina group owns 21 percent.

Sudan has a poor aviation safety record with the June death toll over 40 people. The other incidence was in 2003 when Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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