Search crews locate 8 bodies of crewmembers of crashed Ukrainian plane; cargo was military ordnance

Ground search-and-rescue crews have located all eight bodies belonging to crewmembers of a Ukraine-registered Antonov-12 cargo plane that crashed late Saturday evening west of the northern Greece port-city of Kavala.

Fire brigade authorities added that no dangerous substances or emissions, as emanating from the cargo carried by the plane, have been detected at the crash site, a statement that came after a handful of local media claimed otherwise. White dust created from the crash was attributed by more sensationalist media to “radioactive” or “biological” material, something flatly denied by emergency officials at the scene.aip

A fire brigade spokesman said the plane was carrying 11.5 tons of ammunition, which necessitates the creation of secure paths in order to recover the bodies and conduct an initial investigation of the crash site.

The final destination was Dhaka, Bangladesh, with in-between stops in Amman, Jordan, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the flight plan stated.

The doomed aircraft entered Greece airspace at 22.09 Athens time (20.09 GMT). Its pilots informed Greek flight controllers at 22.37 that due to “operation reasons” they could not continue to the final destination and must return to the airport of departure. At 22:42, while flying east of Halkidiki prefecture of northern Greece, the crew told flight controllers in Thessaloniki that the plane’s number four engine was on fire, with a “mayday” distress signal following.

Pilots spoke with the control tower at 22:45 and said they were preparing for an emergency landing, with permission given by the Civil Aviation Authority for Kavala airport. The plane’s signal on radar screens was lost at  22:47.

Ukrainian diplomatic staff in Greece are expected to receive the bodies after autopsies are completed.