DUBAI // A blood test for the driver of a catering lorry who crashed into a parked aircraft did not show any substances that could have affected his performance, according to a preliminary aviation authority report.
The hi-loader driver crashed into the Ural Airlines aircraft at Dubai International Airport on February 17, causing the aircraft to turn, according to the General Civil Aviation Authority preliminary air accident investigation report.
The crash caused an air hostess to fall from the aircraft about three metres on to the tarmac, when a gap formed between a door and the passenger loading dock.
She was seriously injured and taken to hospital after medical treatment in the airport medical centre.
The report said the incident took place at night, under normal weather conditions with tarmac lights lit. The collision happened about three and a half hours after the plane had parked and engines were turned off.
The crash punctured the right fuselage, leaving the Airbus A321 aircraft and lorry damaged.
The flight had landed in Dubai from Novgorod airport in Russia at about 1.15am. More details and conclusions would be released in the authority’s final accident investigation document, the report said.
lcarroll@thenational.ae