Cargo plane crashes killing US pilot
RAMOS ARIZPE, Mexico (AP) - July 6, 2008 Segismundo Doguin, the deputy civil defense chief for Coahuila
state, said the co-pilot suffered second- and third-degree burns
and was in critical condition at a hospital in the nearby city of
Saltillo.
Mexican officials gave varying versions of the names of the crew
and Donald McNeff, a spokesman for the plane's operator, USA Jet
Airlines, declined to identify them, though he said both were U.S.
citizens.
Doguin said the plane crashed before dawn Sunday half a mile (1
kilometer) from the runway in Ramos Arizpe, 200 miles south of the
U.S.-Mexico border.
The plane was carrying four tons of car parts it had picked up
in Hamilton, Canada, for a General Motors plant in Ramos Arizpe.
The DC-9-15 freighter was operated by USA Jet Airlines, based
Ypsilanti, Michigan.
McNeff said the plane cleared customs in Shreveport, Louisiana,
before heading to Ramos Arizpe, said USA Jet Airlines spokesman
Donald McNeff.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a news release
that it has sent a team of investigators to Mexico to help in the
probe.
