A National Air Cargo Boeing 747-400 freighter on behalf of US Mobility Command, registration N949CA performing cargo flight N8-102 from Bagram (Afghanistan) to Dubai Al Maktoum (United Arab Emirates) with 8 crew, has crashed shortly after takeoff from Bagram Air Base's runway 03 at 15:30L (11:00Z) and erupted into flames near the end of the runway with the perimeter of the Air Base. All 8 crew are reported perished in the crash.
"I witnessed this crash today and there was no Taliban involvement. I can tell you this for sure – the 747 took off and commenced a quite steep climb out, not unusual for here, then one of two things happened. In my opinion either the strong head wind or a micro up burst caused it to pitch upward at what looked to be at least 85deg. Nose up or the cargo shifted to the rear and caused it to nose up. It then did what all swept wing aircraft do in a stall and pitched left at about 1200 Ft AGL, then it seemed like the pilot tried to correct and it pitched right and headed for the ground just before impact. It looked like it had flattened out to nearly level but had very little or no forward speed – what followed was the ground shook, followed by a large ball of fire and a huge black cloud of smoke. I truly wish I had not seen this, but I did, and my prayers and thoughts go out to all involved – both on board and the family and loved ones of the crew and passengers."
Any Thermal ( upburst) would not be strong enough and /or a strong headwind/ shear would not do it ,,,,shifting cargo CERTAINLY , pilot error YES combination YES
Seems like the driver wasnt even the least bit phased. He then goes on to say "oh f***" as if now he has been inconvenienced or something. You're right, the video was quite tough to watch. Incredible
The video makes me sick to my stomach. As soon as I saw it my first thought was a load shift. When I'm flying I'm absolutely anal about my loads for this exact reason. Scares the crap out of me.
Load shift or trim runaway for sure.........must have happened right at rotation as they probably did not even have a chance to select the gear up. Gear is down prior to impact.
What about a roll to buy time? That's how we trained to deal with a trim runaway or failure on the Beech 99. Would that work with an extreme C of G such as this?
Certainly hard to watch, more so for the surviving family members of the deceased crew members knowing what must be going through their minds last few seconds of their lives. So very sad..........
