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A Turkish Airlines plane with 135 people aboard slammed into a field while attempting to land at Amsterdam's main airport yesterday. Nine people were killed and more than 50 were injured, the area's acting mayor said.

The aircraft fractured into three pieces on impact. The fuselage split in two, close to the cockpit, and the tail broke off. One engine was visible lying almost intact near the wreck in the muddy field and the other was some 200 m from the plane and heavily damaged.

The airline had said at first that everyone survived. But at a news conference later, Michel Bezuijen, acting mayor of Haarlemmermeer, reported the fatalities.

"At this moment there are nine victims to mourn and more than 50 injured," he said.

At least 25 of the injured were in serious condition; the injured included crew members and passengers. He said there was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. Candan Karlitekin, the head of the airline's board of directors, told reporters in Turkey that visibility was good at the time of landing.

"Visibility was clear... the plane landed on a field instead of the runway," he said.

"We have checked the plane's documents and there is no problem concerning maintenance," he added.

Turkish Airlines head Temel Kotil said the captain, Hasan Tahsin, is very experienced and a former air force pilot. Gideon Evers, spokesman for the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations, said the cause remains unclear.

"Certainly it appears to be an unusual circumstance, but as always the sensible course of action is to wait for the results of the investigation into the causes leading up to the accident," he said.

There was no indication that the crash had anything to do with the fuel level, Evers said, adding that regulations require all commercial flights to carry ample reserves.

According to mandatory limits, a passenger airliner must carry sufficient fuel to get to its destination, remain in holding patterns for 45 minutes, possibly divert to an alternate airport, hold for another 45 minutes, and then carry out a normal approach.

The fact that the plane crash-landed in a muddy, plowed field may have contributed to making the accident less deadly, experts said, by absorbing much of the force of the hard impact. It may also have helped avert a fire resulting from ruptured fuel tanks and lines on the underside of the fuselage, which appeared to have suffered very heavy impact damage.

The initial impact with the ground appeared to have sheared off the hot engines, which could have ignited leaking fuel, and the loose soil would have absorbed it - further decreasing the risk of fire.

Questions:

1. Who is the head of Turkish Airlines?

2. Name two things a passenger airliner must carry enough fuel for, according to mandatory limits.

3. What may have contributed to the crash-landing that made it less deadly?

Answers:

1. Temel Kotil.

2. Either: carry sufficient fuel to get to its destination, remain in holding patterns for 45 minutes, possibly divert to an alternate airport, hold for another 45 minutes, and then carry out a normal approach.

3. The fact that the plane crash-landed in a muddy, plowed field.

（英語點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.