This morning an Airbus A330-200 of Libya’s Afriqiyah Airways (flight 8U771) crashed at the airport of Tripoli Libya.

According to the airline 104 died in the crash, 93 passengers and 11 crew members. The Airbus A330-200 arrived from Johannesburg on it’s way to London Gatwick, and was scheduled to make a stop in Tripoli.

Shortly before the landing at 6:00 am today the Airbus crashed. the cause of the crash is not yet known, the weather conditions were good and the Libyan authorities exclude the possibility of a terrorist act. The plane exploded meters from the runway and was completely destroyed.

Of the passengers, 22 had the Libyan nationality and the others were of different nations (including 70 from the Netherlands) It seems that the only survivor of the crash is an 9 years old Dutch boy, ‘Ruben van Assouw’, An ambassy employie spoke to Ruben and he told her his name and home-town (Tilburg the Netherlands) An uncle and aunt are on there way to visit him and bring him home when his injuries allow that.

The plane was not full, normally an A330-200 can carry up to 300 passengers.

Airbus has confirmed that the crashed aircraft is indeed an A330-200, but it has not identified the specific airframe. Full technical assistance will be provided.

Afriqiyah Airways signed up for six A330-200’s in 2006, the first three aircraft were delivered last year.
The aircraft had just made 1600 flight hours before the crash. it’s serial number is 1024 and it made some 420 flights after it’s delivery last September 2009. Both flight recorders have been found.

The A330 accident is the second for this type after the Air France A330-200 crash last year in the South Atlantic.

Fact-sheet A330: www.zap16.com/2008/11/05/airbus-a330

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Airbus Statement: Afriqiyah Airways flight 8U771 accident in Tripoli, Libya

Airbus regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Afriqiyah Airways was involved in an accident in Tripoli, Libya at 04:00 GMT, Wednesday 12th May. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight 8U771 from Johannesburg, South Africa to Tripoli, Libya.

The aircraft involved in the accident, registered as 5A-ONG, was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 1024, delivered from the production line in September 2009. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 1600 flight hours in some 420 flights. It was powered by General Electric CF6-80E1 engines. At this time no further factual information is available.

Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft crashed short of the runway threshold during approach. According to available information there were 93 passengers and 11 crew on board.

In line with ICAO Annex 13 international convention Airbus is dispatching a team of technical advisors to support the investigation authorities and the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) as accredited representative.

The Airbus A330-200 is a widebody, twin-engine aircraft, which typically carries 253 passengers in a three-class, twin-aisle cabin on medium to long range routes of up to 7,250 nautical miles (13,400km). The A330-200 was first delivered in April 1998.

The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident.