Twenty years after deadly Halifax cargo jet crash, safety improvements lag [Video]

The deadly crash of an MK Airlines cargo plane in Halifax on Oct. 14, 2004, heightened concerns about crew fatigue and inadequate training, but 20 years later, key safety improvements have yet to be made.

Seven crew members — David Lamb, Michael Thornycroft, Gary Keogh, Steven Hooper, Peter Launder, Mario Zahn and Christopher Strydom — died in the crash. Thornycroft was from South Africa, while Zahn was a dual German-South African citizen and the remaining crew were from Zimbabwe.

Their names are on a granite memorial at the site — a wooded area just beyond the airport’s boundary fence — where the fuel-laden Boeing 747 crashed during takeoff, breaking into pieces and lighting up the early morning sky.

Seconds earlier, the heavily loaded flight had struggled to get off the runway, and as a result its tail — which had dragged along the concrete in a shower of sparks — struck a berm at the end of …