Khartoum, Sudan, Feb 3, SPA -- The pilot of a cargo plane that waslosing altitude bravely steered his aircraft away from abuilt-up area and crashed in an open space outside Khartoum, Sudan's director of civil aviation said Thursday. The pilot and his six fellow crewmen were killed, thedirector, Abou Bakr Jaafar, said. "This was a courageous move." Jaafar told The AssociatedPress at the scene where the Sudanese plane crashed east ofthe Nile River at about 8 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). "Hechanged his flight to move the plane out of the inhabitedarea." The houses of Ad Babkir district stand about half a mile(800 meters) from the crash site. Jaafar said the crew of the Ilyushin plane comprised sixRussians and one Sudanese. When reporters arrived at thescene, their bodies had not yet been removed and six wereextremely badly burned. "We don't know the exact reason for the crash," Jaafarsaid, adding that it was under investigation. The weatherwas fine Thursday morning with perfect visibility.--SPAA1431 Local Time 1131 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/236509