Plane lands at Baghdad Airport with wing on fire

A civilian cargo plane landed at Baghdad International Airport this morning with its left wing on fire, the military and witnesses said.

The plane, an Airbus 300, was trailing thick smoke and part of its wingtip was missing as it overflew Baghdad’s Mahmoudiya district prior to touching down, said a witness who asked not to be identified.

Captain Carrie Clear, a spokeswoman for the US military base at the airport, said the pilot had declared an in-flight emergency. The plane, belonging to the DHL package delivery service, landed safely and no one was hurt, she said.

The military spokeswoman said an investigation had been launched into the incident. It was not immediately clear whether the flames had been caused by a technical malfunction, or whether the aircraft had been hit by ground fire, Clear said.

A photograph taken from the ground showed flames at the spot where the ailerons and flaps meet on the left wing’s trailing edge. The damage appeared consistent with effects of the explosion of a surface-to-air missile – which are equipped with proximity fuses – near the left engine.

In recent weeks, insurgents have shot down five US helicopters using shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and rocket propelled grenades. About 40 US servicemen were killed and nearly two dozen injured.

The DHL plane was headed from Baghdad to Bahrain with three crew members on board when it turned around and made an emergency landing in Baghdad at 0630 GMT, company spokeswoman Patricia Thomson said in Belgium. She said it was unclear what had caused the emergency.

“We are relieved that everyone is well and there are no injuries to the crew,” she said. The plane was on a regular cargo run, Thomson said.