Cargo plane skids off Sharjah runway

A CARGO plane heading for Afghanistan skidded off the runway at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates on 2 January. Its six crew members were reported to be unhurt although the plane suffered some damage.

“The aircraft was towed away from the runway, and no other flights were disrupted,” said Abdulwahab Mohammad Al Roomi, director general of civil aviation in Sharjah.

The Antonov-12 is owned by British Gulf International, which was formerly linked to notorious Russian gunrunner Viktor Bout (right). This is the second accident for British Gulf in recent months. In November, another An-12 owned by the company crashed at Fallujah in Iraq killing seven crew members. The cause was attributed by the Coalition to “technical difficulties”.