Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Flight 3739

On 22 July, 2020, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Flight 3739, a Boeing 777-F60 operating a scheduled international cargo flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China, to Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, Chile, with three stopovers in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, China, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Ethiopia, and São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, Brazil, caught fire on the ground, shortly before takeoff, at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. All five crew members on board survived, but the aircraft was destroyed. An investigation on the accident found that the fire was caused by flammable materials that spontaneously ignited in the cargo hold.

Accident

The aircraft was parked, at position 306 of the airport in Shanghai, and undergoing cargo unloading after a previous flight from Brussels Airport. At 1:35 pm local time, after all the previous cargo has been removed from the aircraft, a new cargo loading operation begun, preparing the aircraft for transporting 69370 kilograms of freight as Flight 3739. Around an hour later the five crew members boarded the aircraft and started to perform the pre-take off procedures. At 3:14 pm, soon after the aircraft closed all of its doors, a cargo hold fire alarm activated in the cockpit, so the crew requested to the airport ground control to send firefighting teams and vehicles to their position. Seven minutes later, the crew of Flight 3739 declared an emergency, as the aircraft was still on fire and firefighting crews were late to arrive. As the firefighters arrived both door 1L and the main cargo door of the aircraft were opened, letting the crew members evacuate and the fire engines to spray water inside the airplane. The fire was put definitely out at 6:14 pm. The fire severely damaged the upper parts of the aircraft's fuselage, creating holes and scorches on it; the most severely damaged part was the tail section, which was nearly completely destroyed. Despite the damage to the plane all five crew members on board successfully evacuated.