Dashcam video of 747 crash in Afghanistan

A horrifying airplane crash in Afghanistan was apparently caught on video by a passing bystander’s dashcam. You can see the Boeing 747-400 pull up and then do something that you never, ever, want to see an airplane do: Stop moving. For a few tenths of a second, it just hovers against the clouds before suddenly veering right and careening down to the hard earth thousands of feet below. It disappears in a wall of fire and smoke.

All seven people aboard the civilian aircraft were killed instantly. The crash happened yesterday, just outside Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Owned by the Florida-based National Airlines, the plane was on route to Dubai with a cargo of vehicles. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, but a NATO spokesman declared those claims “false.”

The video is terrifying, but is it real? The timestamp dates to February first, not April 29. It’s possible the camera’s owner just never programmed the date, as many camera owners have done throughout history.

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23 thoughts on “Dashcam video of 747 crash in Afghanistan”

  1. I don’t see any evidence of a SAM that one would use to take a aircraft down like that. They usually leave a trail to their target. This plane looked like it just went into a complete stall, and then dropped out of the sky. Perhaps they sabotaged the craft itself, but I see no evidence that something was fired at it.

    The taliban and al qaeda love jumping on situations like this and take credit for it.

  2. I don’t understand. We hear the vehicle blinkers and other inside car noises, but the driver makes no sound as he watches a plane crash right in front of him. Doesn’t that seem strange? I would have expected some sort of reaction even if he was in the car by himself.

      • True Kevin – he does drop the F bomb, but it seems like he saying it like he is upset that the plane crash is inconveniencing him by blocking the road.

    • No, considering he is airport security, pretty sure he is pretty hardened to this type of stuff.

      And what do you expect him to do? Scream?

  3. Did this really happen? I may have missed it, but I don’t remember seeing it on the news anywhere. And you’re right Nancy, the driver makes no sound at all, even as he’s watching a horrific crash.

  4. either it is from an odd angle, or it is faked. It appears the plane is climbing at a very steep angle and then just stops, wouldn’t momentum keep it going for a bit? I smell a rat.

    • A very steep angle is a recommendation for all aircraft flying to/from Kabul due to the surrounding mountains.

      And the sudden momentum loss points to a compressor stall.

  5. What I don’t understand is what the hell was the pilot doing in the first place? What made him think that plane could climb that steep? If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can stall out and crash in a specialize STUNT plane doing that, much less a goddamn boeing!

    I call either fake, or the “attacker” was the pilot himself – a suicide attack of some sort.

    • “What made him think that plane could climb that steep?”
      Depending if that area is still hot, all planes going in and out would be at extreme ascent or descent to avoid gunfire and SAMs. I’m guessing his load towards the front broke free and slammed into the other loads, breaking them free sending them backwards.

  6. I dont understand how the driver is quiet through the whole thing?? I would have been Like “Holy Sh1t!!Holy Sh1t!!Holy Sh1t!!Holy Sh1t!!” … and calling everyone I know!!!

  8. If the was a load shift it upset the aircraft’s center of balance. As the cargo weight moved to the rear it caused the nose to go up to the angle seen on the film. When the aircraft momentarily stopped moving it was at the point when the engines’ power was overcome by the lack of lift caused by the extreme angle of attack. The aircraft hung in place for a moment, stalled, rolled out and hit the ground. Nothing was fired at the aircraft, nothing was faked and there weren’t any rats to smell. The pilot had no control over the aircraft after it pitched up, which is before we saw it on the video, so put those conspiricy theories in the recycling bin. Even if the pilot were able to put the nose down, the cargo would have then shifted forward and perhaps come through the cockpit wall. This was a no-win situation for the aircrew.

  9. I cannot believe some of the comments…. I am a pilot and I can tell you the 747 took off and commenced a quite steep climb out, not unusual for Bagram to avoid possible attacks, then one of two things happened. Either the strong head wind or a micro up burst caused it to pitch upward at what looked to be at least 85deg. Nose up or the cargo shifted to the rear and caused it to nose up. It then did what all swept wing aircraft do in a stall and pitched left at about 1200 Ft AGL, then it seemed like the pilot tried to correct and it pitched right and headed for the ground just before impact. It looked like it had flattened out to nearly level but had very little or no forward speed – what followed was the ground shook, followed by a large ball of fire and a huge black cloud of smoke.

  11. I read some where the pilot was heard saying “cargo shift” like maybe cargo broke lose and shifted to the rear

  12. A&L’s response is most likely cause. From the angle of the video, the plane isn’t in fact going “straight up” as some here have thought.

    And, one of the more obvious ways that an aircraft like this can stall is by a major shift in the load of the freight in the back.

    An aircraft stall is when the wing stops generating lift. This happens when the angle of attack (relative wind over the wings) is too steep. This can be caused by the pilot pulling back on the control yoke too much. Or, in this case, a huge change in the center of gravity of the aircraft, such as when a bunch of freight breaks loose and slides backwards towards the rear.

    When a stall happens the aircraft’s nose falls forward and eventually, if you have enough altitude, the plane should start flying again when enough relative wind goes over the wings. And, you can tell, right before the crash that it was on that trajectory. Unfortunately they weren’t high enough.

    In any case, very sad.

  14. Im guessing more than likely cargo shifted on takeoff and the plane became tailheavy, the center of gravity shifted to far aft and thus the flight controls can no longer function as designed and unfortunately there is nothing more a crew can do at that point.

    RIP

  15. i have doubt because i havent seen it on the news and because i hear him and other noises in the vehicle but hear no explosion. is there a reason why an explosion of that magnitude wouldnt be heard?

  17. It’s Sunday and the body of my friend, Gary Stockdale (mechanic on board) has yet to be delivered home for burial. The bodies (perhaps depending on condition or collectability of DNA) were going to be sent to Dover AFB from Afghanistan. I’m awaiting word from the family in Michigan for the details of the funeral. I watched that crash video about 5 times before it made me too physically ill to continue.

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