BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG, 7 November — A plane crash in Luxembourg killed at least 18 people yesterday when a twin-engine jet on a flight from Berlin came down in thick fog close to the main airport.
The Luxair Fokker-50 plane carrying 19 passengers and three crew plowed into a field some five kilometers from the Grand Duchy’s International Airport in Luxembourg and just a few hundred meters from a residential neighborhood.
The jet, which was on a scheduled flight from Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, was making its final approach at around 10.15 a.m. when it smashed into the ground. "We were in contact with the plane and then we suddenly lost contact," Luxair spokesman Paul Greis said. "Most passengers died from the violence of the shock of impact," said Transport Minister Henri Grethen. The plane was engulfed in flames after crashing 10 kilometers from the airport.
The cause of the crash, the first ever involving the airline, was not immediately clear, although the minister confirmed the bad weather at the time. "As the plane approached the airport the weather conditions were not the best, there was a thick fog," although visibility was greater than 100 meters, he said. Luxair director Christian Heintzmann declined to speculate about the causes. (The Independent)
