Sudan plane mishap kills nearly 100

A Sudanese jetliner veered off a runway late Tuesday amid thunderstorms and exploded into flames, killing about 100 people, Sudan's state television reported.

About 200 passangers were thought to be aboard the plane when it landed in bad weather and a higher casualty toll was feared. An AP reporter at the scene said the plane was arriving from Amman, Jordan, and apparently left the runway as it landed in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire." "We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.

But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.Al-Jazeera television station said it was a Sudan Airways passenger jet, and Najib confirmed the plane was from a Sudanese airline.

Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, told Sudanese TV that the plane had "landed safely" in Khartoum and that the pilot talked to control tower and got directions for his landing runway.

"At this moment, one of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. "It's a technical reason," he added, denying reports that bad weather caused the crash. He said there were survivors, but gave no figures.

Spokesmen for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington could not immediately provide any details of the incident, but said they were continuing to monitor the situation.
A flight list had a Sudan Airways 109 flight from Damascus scheduled to arrive in Khartoum at the time of the accident.

Sudan Airways Web site says Amman-Khartoum flight is an Airbus A310. Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In May, a plane crash in a remote area of southern Sudan killed 24 people, including key members of the southern Sudanese government.

In July 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board.

After that crash, Sudanese officials blamed sanctions for restricting vital aircraft parts. The US State Department said there was no ban on equipment needed for aviation safety.

In 1997, then US President Bill Clinton issued an executive order barring the export of goods and technology to Sudan because of the country's "support for international terrorism, ongoing efforts to destabilize neighboring governments, and the prevalence of human rights violations."