Data recorders recovered from plane wreckage

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates -- An Iranian plane carrying migrant workers back from a visa-renewing journey to a Gulf island crashed Tuesday while approaching the airport, killing 43 of the 46 people aboard and narrowly missing nearby homes.

Three survivors of Kish Air's Flight IRK1770 were hospitalized, two in critical condition with burns and fractures.

Authorities recovered the Fokker-50's cockpit voice and data recorders and hoped they reveal why the plane -- which had not reported any trouble on its final approach -- crashed two miles from Sharjah airport and burst into flames.

It was returning from the Iranian island of Kish, a favorite destination of foreign workers who must exit the Emirates and return to meet their visa requirements.

The airline advertises cheap "visa change" excursions and its daily flights are packed with foreigners -- particularly Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos who make up the bulk of the Emirates' work force.

According to a passenger list released by the airline, 25 of the 40 passengers were traveling on visa change package deals that included air fare and cheap hotels in Kish.

International passengers

According to the list, aboard were 13 Iranians, 13 Indians, four Egyptians, two Algerians, two Bangladeshis, two Filipinos, one Nepalese, one Syrian, one Nigerian and one Cameroonian. Six Iranian crew members also were aboard.

Col. Saleh Ali al-Mutawaa, general director of Sharjah Police, said 43 of the 46 people aboard died in the late morning crash. Two men -- an Iranian and a Filipino -- were being treated at the coronary care unit of al-Qasimi hospital, emergency room attendants said.

Another man, badly burned on his face and body and with multiple fractures, was on a ventilator in intensive care, the attendants said. They did not give his nationality, but Al-Mutawaa, the police official, said two Filipinos and an Iranian survived.

The near miss shook residents.

"I was sleeping when I heard what must have been the shriek of the engines, and then a very loud noise that was like a nightmare," said Hamza Ghareeb, whose house was only 100 yards from the wreckage. "My whole family ran out and we couldn't believe our eyes: There was a burning plane sitting in our front yard."

Ghareeb said the smoke and fire stopped him and others from getting too close, and residents feared the plane would explode.

"All I could see was flames and smoke and bodies everywhere," said Beatrice Manolo, a Filipina maid working in one of the homes in the area.

Thirty charred bodies covered with red blankets lay in rows near the wreckage. The bodies were intact but burned beyond recognition; one was an infant, an Iranian girl.

Police fenced off the area. At dusk, they set up generators and floodlights to aid investigators.

A crane picked through the wreckage, lifting chunks of the broken aircraft. Only the tail and cockpit area were recognizable, with the rest too badly burned.

Mohammed al-Ghaith, a senior Civil Aviation official, said the pilots had not sent out an emergency call.

Hassan Haj Ali Fard, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, who arrived in Sharjah hours after the crash, said the cause won't be known immediately. "But what is important to note is that the plane was flight worthy and had been given clearance to fly," he added.

"The plane was on its final approach when it suddenly banked to the left and hit the ground," he told The Associated Press.

The plane was 11 years old, according to the Dutch company Stork, which owns much of Fokker's assets -- far newer than most in Iran's aging fleet. Kish Air acquired the plane in 2002, according to an Internet search based on the plane's tail number.

Stork spokesman Koos Huurdeman said major maintenance was carried out by Fokker Services, which is a division under Stork, and that Kish Air handled minor maintenance.

In Tehran, Kish officials refused comment.

A few relatives in the Emirates went to the airport looking for information.

"We don't know what's going on. All we know is that my father-in-law was arriving today and then we heard of this plane crash," said Abdel Rasoul al-Majidy.

His wife, Fawziyah, began shouting hysterically at airport officials: "Where's my father? Where's my father? Bring him to me!"

Kish Air had a fleet of four medium-range, Russian-made Tupolev-154M jets on domestic and international flights and four short-range Fokker-50 turboprops, according to the company's Web site.