United Arab Emirates Plane Crash

October 21, 2009
On October 21st, 2009 a Sudanese Boeing 707 crashed near Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. The cargo plane went down near a densely populated area shortly after taking off from Sharjah airport. Firefighters quickly contained the fire and recovery crews began collecting debris for their investigation shortly thereafter. While no one on the ground was injured, all of the six crewmembers on-board were killed. The cause of the crash is unknown.

NC4 issued the initial alert of this incident six minutes before it was reported by Reuters, which is often the initial source of information for major network media. With the incorporation of social networking sites into NC4’s source database, analysts are able to receive raw intelligence immediately from people on scene and begin analyzing data before other agencies.

Selected Updates

NC4 Incident Monitoring Center issued the following alerts:

• A plane has crashed near the airport; crews are responding.  10/21/09 05:05 PDT
  
  
• A Sudanese cargo plane has crashed near the airport; six casualties reported.
  10/21/09 05:28 PDT
  

• Crews remain on the scene of a cargo plane crash; large smoke plume reported.
  10/21/09 06:02 PDT
  

• Local media sources reporting six casualties and international media reporting two.
  10/21/09 06:10 PDT
  
  
• Media sources reporting that the plane belonged to Azza Air.  10/21/09 06:24 PDT
  
  
• Azza Air cargo plane crashed and completely destroyed; six people killed.
  10/21/09 10:38 PDT
  

 

Additional Resources
NC4 provides ongoing updates to members as the incident unfolds through the NC4 Incident Monitoring Center (NIMC). NIMC analysts follow the incident using official government sources, national and local media sources, and social networking sites. Upon receiving initial information regarding incidents from social networking sites, analysts are able to do targeted searches and attach media articles that contain images from the scene, eyewitness reports, and situational updates.

One-page printable summary with graphics