LUXEMBOURG: A FOKKER 50 TWIN EGINE PLANE HAS CRASHED ON APPROACH TO AIRPORT KILLING AT LEAST 18 PEOPLE ON BOARD

Record ID: 383705

  • Title: LUXEMBOURG: A FOKKER 50 TWIN EGINE PLANE HAS CRASHED ON APPROACH TO AIRPORT KILLING AT LEAST 18 PEOPLE ON BOARD
  • Date: 7th November 2002
  • Summary: (W5) NEAR LUXEMBOURG AIRPORT, LUXEMBOURG (NOVEMBER 6, 2002) (REUTERS) FOR DETAILED SHOTLIST 1 - 11 SEE PROD 13932/02: 1. LV CRASH SITE ACROSS FIELDS, CRANE LIFTING WRECKAGE 2. TAIL PIECE OF FOKKER FIFTY, PLANE WRECKAGE 3. EMERGENCY WORKERS AND FIRE CREWS CARRYING COVERED STRETCHER AWAY FROM SITE 4. CRANE AT SITE 5. EMERGENCY WORKERS LOOKING AT WRECKAGE 6. FIRE CREW CARRYING EMPTY STRETCHER 7. HOOK OF CRANE MANOEUVRED INTO POSITION 8. FIRE CREW LOOKING AT WRECKAGE 9. EMERGENCY WORKERS CARRYING AWAY BODY ON STRETCHER PAST TAIL FIN OF AIRCRAFT 10. WRECKAGE BEING LIFTED BY CRANE 11. FIRE CREW CARRYING BODY ON STRETCHER 12. CRANE LIFTING WRECKAGE 2.10 (W6) LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (NOVEMBER 6, 2002) (REUTERS) 13. SLV PAN PLANES AT LUXEMBOURG AIRPORT; SLV GROUNDED LUXAIR FOKKER FIFTY (THE WHOLE LUXAIR FOKKER FLEET HAS BEEN GROUNDED) (2 SHOTS) 2.30 14. SLV PAN NEWS CONFERENCE; SCU JOURNALIST WRITING 2.40 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LUXEMBOURG TRANSPORT MINISTER HENRI GRETHEN SAYING "Everything was absolutely normal, there was no incident which was notified. The last contact was absolutely normal and the pilots, what we know, actually, the pilots did not signify any trouble." 2.58 16. MV CAMERA OPERATORS PAN JOURNALISTS 3.10 17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LUXAIR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) CHRISTIAN HEINZMANN SAYING "We don't know anything about the cause of the accident. As the minister explained there were several landings before the crash. Our planes are category two which means they are fully equipped and even the crew is used to landing like this. We don't know what happened. It's the experts who will tell us what happened. We have experienced people. All the pilots were professionally trained. The airplanes were overhauled according to Luxembourg standards, which are high." 3.54 18. SLV PRESS CONFERENCE 3.58 19. AV AIRCRAFT FLYING OVERHEAD 4.05 (W6) NEAR LUXEMBOURG AIRPORT, LUXEMBOURG (NOVEMBER 6, 2002) (REUTERS) 20. SLV LUXEMBOURG PRIME MINISTER JEAN CLAUDE JUNCKER (GLASSES) WALKING WITH GERMAN TRANSPORT MINISTER MANFRED STOLPE (GREY HAIR, BLACK OVERCOAT) (6 SHOTS) 5.06 21. MV MINISTERIAL GROUP AT CRASH SITE, LOOKING AT WRECKAGE; MV MINISTERS STANDING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS 5.13 22. (SOUNDBITE) (French) JUNCKER SAYING "I can exclude practically one hundred percent the theory of an attack which is something we investigated in the first minutes." 5.21 23. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MANFRED STOLPE SAYING "The fact that the cause is unknown adds to this difficult experience. This plane crash is a terrible thing for Luxembourg and Germany and for the loss of human lives. I am in deep mourning with the families." 5.36 (ASKED ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF TERRORIST ATTACK) "I've heard from the experts on the ground that it's almost a certainly that a terrorist attack can be discarded." 5.51 24. SLV MINISTERS FACING PRESS 5.54 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAR LUXEMBOURG AIRPORT AND LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG
  • Country: Luxembourg
  • Reuters ID: LVAD0CMZQ4FPPBKIX66N1EL30S1T
  • Story Text: A Fokker 50 twin-engine plane has crashed on
    approach to Luxembourg airport, killing at least 18 on board.

    Two people remain in hospital in a critical condition.

    A Luxair plane on a flight from Berlin crashed in
    Luxembourg in thick fog on Wednesday (November 6, 2002), killing 18
    of the 22 people aboard, but the death toll was likely to rise
    as two people were still missing.

    The twin-engine Fokker 50 carrying 19 passengers and three
    crew ploughed into a field some five kms (three miles) from
    the Grand Duchy's international airport and only a few hundred
    metres from a residential neighbourhood.

    The plane, on a scheduled flight from Berlin-Tempelhof
    airport, was making its final approach in thick fog at around
    10:15 a.m. (0915 GMT) when it crashed into the ground.

    "Everything was normal," Luxembourg Transport Minister
    Henry Grethen told a news conference. "What we know is that
    the pilot did not signal any danger."
    Most of the passengers died immediately when the aircraft
    hit the ground and burst into flames, Grethen said.

    Five people survived the crash, but three died later from
    their injuries and two, including the pilot, were in critical
    condition.

    Rescuers were searching the smoking wreckage of the
    aircraft for two of those aboard who were missing. Fifteen of
    those on the aircraft were German, five Luxemburgers and two
    French.

    A crane slowly lifted the remains of the aircraft
    fuselage, part of its roof torn off, exposing a tangle of
    charred metal. The broken blue tail wing sporting Luxair's
    white logo listed over the wreck.

    Luxair Chief Executive Christian Heinzmann told the news
    conference investigators were looking for the cause of the
    crash, the first in the Luxembourg airline's 40-year history.

    "We don't know anything about the cause of the accident.

    As the minister explained there were several landings before
    the crash. Our planes are category 2 which means they are
    fully equipped and even the crew is used to landing like this.

    We don't know what happened. It's the experts who will tell us
    what happened. We have experienced people. All the pilots were
    professionally trained. The airplanes were overhauled
    according to Luxembourg standards, which are high," he told
    reporters.

    The plane had been in service since 1991 and had had a
    technical check the previous day, an airline spokesman said.

    Luxair has grounded the three other Fokkers in its fleet
    of 17 aircraft for a technical inspection, he said.

    Luxembourg airport shut down for about two hours after the
    crash, diverting flights to neighbouring Germany and France.

    Senior figures from the Luxembourg and German governemtns
    visited the crash site as dusk fell.

    Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker walked
    alongside German Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe. Both men
    catagoriaclly excluded the possibility that the crash could
    have been caused by a terror attack.

    "I can exclude practically 100 percent the theory of an
    attack which is something we investigated in the first
    minutes," Juncker said.

    Stolpe said "The fact that the cause is unknown adds to
    this difficult experience. This plane crash is a terrible
    thing for Luxembourg and Germany and for the loss of human
    lives. I am in deep mourning with the families."
    The crash was the first in Luxembourg since September
    1982, when an Aeroflot Ilyushin-62 veered off the runway on
    landing and smashed through a wooded area. Most of the 77
    people aboard survived.

    Luxair is owned 13 percent by the German airline Lufthansa
    LHAG.F> and 36.5 percent by the Luxembourg government. The
    other shares are held by private companies and the Luxair
    Group.


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