Second Kalitta Air cargo plane crashes

A Kalitta Air 747-200 freighter loaded with flowers en route to Miami crashed Monday near the Colombian capital of Bogota shortly after takeoff, the company confirmed.

Two people were killed when their house was hit, but the eight crewmembers survived, according to news reports.

Kalitta was operating the plane under a wet lease to Miami-based Centurion Airlines, provider of all-cargo service to Central and South America.

Kalitta operates a scheduled all-cargo network and operates freighters under lease to international airlines and the U.S. Defense Department.

It is the second U.S. cargo plane that has crashed in two days south of the border. On Sunday, a narrow-body DC-9 operated by USA JetAirlines and carrying auto parts from Canada, crashed in Mexico on approach to an airport in the state of Coahuila. Kalitta and USA JetAirlines are both based in Ypsilanti, Mich., but Kalitta is a global carrier that doesn't operate from the local airport there.

It is also the second crash in six weeks of a 747 flown by Kalitta. In the earlier accident, a Kalitta Air plane chartered by DHL split apart while attempting to take off from the Brussels airport. The plane's No. 3 engine sucked in some birds, causing the compressor to stall. The pilot tried to stop but ran out of runway, Pete Sanderlin, Kalitta's vice president and general manager, told American Shipper.

The crew was not injured in that incident and the cargo remained intact even though the plane split into three pieces, he said.

Kalitta operates 19 747 freighters, not including the two destroyed planes. In the past month it has taken delivery of two converted 747-400s from Boeing.

Sanderlin said the accidents would not disrupt operations as the airline has spare capacity. 

Source: American Shipper