Crash of Mail Plane Kills 2; Blast Reported
CLEVELAND — Witnesses said they saw an explosion shortly before a mail plane crashed early Sunday, killing the two men aboard. Authorities said they had no reason to suspect sabotage, however.
The DC-9 cargo jet fell upside-down onto the snow-covered main runway at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Capt. David Reay and First Officer Richard Duney were killed.
Officials would not speculate on the cause of the crash or whether the U.S. mail cargo aboard the jet might have contained an explosive.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said that flames were seen on the jet’s left engine just before its aborted takeoff.
FAA and National Transportation Safety Board inspectors arrived Sunday to sift through the wreckage. A spokesman for the NTSB team said the investigation would probably take about a week.
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