747F down in Colombia, Kalitta again.....

[fingpilot]

Initial reports are an engine fire shortly after takeoff, 8 crew, 7 of them American, bound for MIA with a load of flowers. 2 on the ground dead, some enroute to Bogota hospitals injured.

Pics show the unmistakeable Kalitta paint scheme, many pieces on the ground.

[widebody911]

http://avherald.com/h?article=40950475&opt=0

http://www.wjbo.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=3921242

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Holy cow! These are NOT good days for the Kalitta family. Doesn't sound good for the crew from the description, but here's to hoping they got out okay. . .

[Normy]

From what I've read, there were 8 people on board, and all were injured. Two are in serious condition, the rest are fine. Two men and a child in a house on the ground were killed.

Apparently, they blew a motor coming out of Bogota, Columbia, an airport that sits at 8600 feet above sea level. Apparently, with one engine out, they couldn't keep the plane in the air and attempted to land in a large field. This shouldn't have happened.

-Prior to every takeoff, we use a laptop computer to determine the maximum that we can weigh and still manage a 2.6 degree climb gradient with one engine shut down. You can bet that US and Columbian accident investigators are going to take a careful look at the calculations made prior to this takeoff, and also a careful look at just how much cargo was actually on board. One possible explanation is that 160,000 kilograms of flowers were loaded, yet the crew was told that it was only 160,000 pounds.

I'm glad the crew all survived, though this is still a tragedy since the two people on the ground were killed. Unfortunately for the crew, in places like Columbia, it is routine for the crew to be arrested and detained while accident investigations take place.

N

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Normy

Unfortunately for the crew, in places like Columbia, it is routine for the crew to be arrested and detained while accident investigations take place. N

You can bet that this will happen, especially in South America.

Will be interesting to see what happened here.

[rattlsnak]

Originally Posted by Normy

-Prior to every takeoff, we use a laptop computer to determine the maximum that we can weigh and still manage a 2.6 degree climb gradient with one engine shut down.
N

You mean 3.3 degrees for IFR, correct?