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SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AFP) – A Sudanese cargo plane crashed on Wednesday in the desert near Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates, killing all six crew members, Sharjah civil aviation director Khaled al-Qassimi said.
"A Sudanese cargo plane crashed two miles (three kilometres) from the Sharjah airport shortly after takeoff and there were no survivors among the six crew," Sheikh Khaled told AFP, saying the crash site was in the desert.
Officials had earlier said the aircraft was Iranian.
A civil aviation official said the airport had been closed to air traffic.
The UAE emirate of Sharjah lies hard by the Gulf federation's trade and leisure hub of Dubai.
The Sudanese air fleet is outdated, and the government says spare parts are not available for the country's US-made aircraft due to economic sanctions imposed by Washington.
The United States, which has placed Khartoum on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism, says the sanctions do not prevent the delivery of spare parts for aircraft if they are requested.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091021/wl_africa_afp/uaetransportaircrash_20091021130955
[anet]0230237[/anet]
"A Sudanese cargo plane crashed two miles (three kilometres) from the Sharjah airport shortly after takeoff and there were no survivors among the six crew," Sheikh Khaled told AFP, saying the crash site was in the desert.
Officials had earlier said the aircraft was Iranian.
A civil aviation official said the airport had been closed to air traffic.
The UAE emirate of Sharjah lies hard by the Gulf federation's trade and leisure hub of Dubai.
The Sudanese air fleet is outdated, and the government says spare parts are not available for the country's US-made aircraft due to economic sanctions imposed by Washington.
The United States, which has placed Khartoum on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism, says the sanctions do not prevent the delivery of spare parts for aircraft if they are requested.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091021/wl_africa_afp/uaetransportaircrash_20091021130955
[anet]0230237[/anet]