<p>Based on a preliminary report, General Civil Aviation Authority said air traffic controllers here received information from officials in Bahrain at 7:15pm (local time), minutes before the crash, that the plane was returning to Dubai after reporting smoke in the cockpit.<br /><br />United Parcel Service B744 plane left the Dubai International Airport at 6:53pm for Cologne in Germany and crashed into the desert outside the city.<br /><br />As per report, ATC issued clearance when the plane was approximately 40km from touchdown, however, the ill-fated aircraft was high on the approach -- 8500 feet at 24km from touchdown.<br /><br />The plane passed above the airfield "very high", the GCAA said in a statement, adding that it made a right turn before tracking south west and losing altitude rapidly.<br />At around 7:42pm, radar contact was lost as the B744 crashed in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain Highway, 50 minutes after being airborne.<br />The report confirmed that the investigation team had recovered the "black box" -- the digital flight data recorder -- approximately six hours after the accident and is gathering forensic evidence from the scene.<br /><br />A team from the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive in the UAE to assist the GCAA in the crash investigation.</p>
<p>Based on a preliminary report, General Civil Aviation Authority said air traffic controllers here received information from officials in Bahrain at 7:15pm (local time), minutes before the crash, that the plane was returning to Dubai after reporting smoke in the cockpit.<br /><br />United Parcel Service B744 plane left the Dubai International Airport at 6:53pm for Cologne in Germany and crashed into the desert outside the city.<br /><br />As per report, ATC issued clearance when the plane was approximately 40km from touchdown, however, the ill-fated aircraft was high on the approach -- 8500 feet at 24km from touchdown.<br /><br />The plane passed above the airfield "very high", the GCAA said in a statement, adding that it made a right turn before tracking south west and losing altitude rapidly.<br />At around 7:42pm, radar contact was lost as the B744 crashed in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain Highway, 50 minutes after being airborne.<br />The report confirmed that the investigation team had recovered the "black box" -- the digital flight data recorder -- approximately six hours after the accident and is gathering forensic evidence from the scene.<br /><br />A team from the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive in the UAE to assist the GCAA in the crash investigation.</p>