Weather all-but ruled out as cause of crash Weather conditions over Tripoli's international airport were good on Wednesday, with three-mile (4.8-kilometer) visibility, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and winds of only three miles per hour.A NASA Web site said an ash cloud from Iceland's volcano had reached North Africa by Monday, but a map from Britain's meteorological office showed it was well west of Tripoli at the time of the crash.Brussels-based European air traffic management agency said the thinning volcanic ash cloud that disrupted air traffic over parts of Europe and the Atlantic in the past few days had moved into mid-ocean and was unlikely to have affected an airliner in Libya, more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) to the west.Daniel Hoeltgen, spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency said Afriqiyah has undergone 10 recent safety inspections at European airports, with no significant safety findings. He said a team of French crash investigators was already on its way to Tripoli."We are currently talking to Airbus and with the French accident investigator BEA, which will be involved in the investigation," said Hoeltgen. "We will lend our support if this is required by authorities in charge."Afriqiyah Airways is not included on the European Union's list of banned airlines. The list has nearly 300 carriers deemed by the EU not to meet international safety standards.According to initial reports, the plane crashed as it neared the threshold of Tripoli International's main east-west runway, while preparing to touch down from the east.The main runway at Tripoli Airport is 3,600 yards (meters) long. According to international airport guides, the airport does not have a precision approach system that guides airplanes down to the runway's threshold, but has two other less sophisticated systems that are in wide use throughout the world.Wednesday's crash was the fourth deadly landing accident at Tripoli airport in the past 40 years, according to the Web site of the US-based Flight Safety Foundation.In 1970, a Czechoslovak Airlines Tupolev 104 crashed 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) from the airport, killing all 13 people on board. A year later, a United Arab Airlines Comet crashed 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) from the runway threshold, killing all 16 on board. In 1989, a Korean Air DC-10 crashed, killing 75 of the 199 people on the aircraft.Afriqiyah Airways operates an all Airbus fleet. It was founded in April 2001 and is fully owned by the Libyan government.
At least 96 dead in Libya crash
Plane crashes on approach to Tripoli's airport; Dutch boy survives.
Weather all-but ruled out as cause of crash Weather conditions over Tripoli's international airport were good on Wednesday, with three-mile (4.8-kilometer) visibility, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and winds of only three miles per hour.A NASA Web site said an ash cloud from Iceland's volcano had reached North Africa by Monday, but a map from Britain's meteorological office showed it was well west of Tripoli at the time of the crash.Brussels-based European air traffic management agency said the thinning volcanic ash cloud that disrupted air traffic over parts of Europe and the Atlantic in the past few days had moved into mid-ocean and was unlikely to have affected an airliner in Libya, more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) to the west.Daniel Hoeltgen, spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency said Afriqiyah has undergone 10 recent safety inspections at European airports, with no significant safety findings. He said a team of French crash investigators was already on its way to Tripoli."We are currently talking to Airbus and with the French accident investigator BEA, which will be involved in the investigation," said Hoeltgen. "We will lend our support if this is required by authorities in charge."Afriqiyah Airways is not included on the European Union's list of banned airlines. The list has nearly 300 carriers deemed by the EU not to meet international safety standards.According to initial reports, the plane crashed as it neared the threshold of Tripoli International's main east-west runway, while preparing to touch down from the east.The main runway at Tripoli Airport is 3,600 yards (meters) long. According to international airport guides, the airport does not have a precision approach system that guides airplanes down to the runway's threshold, but has two other less sophisticated systems that are in wide use throughout the world.Wednesday's crash was the fourth deadly landing accident at Tripoli airport in the past 40 years, according to the Web site of the US-based Flight Safety Foundation.In 1970, a Czechoslovak Airlines Tupolev 104 crashed 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) from the airport, killing all 13 people on board. A year later, a United Arab Airlines Comet crashed 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) from the runway threshold, killing all 16 on board. In 1989, a Korean Air DC-10 crashed, killing 75 of the 199 people on the aircraft.Afriqiyah Airways operates an all Airbus fleet. It was founded in April 2001 and is fully owned by the Libyan government.