2008-1-26 16:16
Brazzaville -
The pilot and copilot of an Antonov 12 were badly hurt on Friday when the brakes failed on their cargo plane at Congo's Pointe-Noire airport and it rammed a Boeing 727, an airport official said.
The Antonov had landed and was heading off the runway into a parking bay when the brakes failed, apparently because of an electrical problem, the official told AFP, asking not to be named.
The two flight crew were seriously injured and have taken to hospital in the country's economic capital on the Atlantic coast.
Both aircraft also sustained considerable damage, the source said.
Congo's government in 2007 banned the use of Antonovs, which are a widespread means of air transport in central Africa, as passenger planes, but not for cargo flights.
Many of them are old aircraft flown by Russians and Ukrainians dating back to the Soviet era and often badly maintained by small airlines.
Fatal accidents involving Antonovs have mounted up in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo to such an extent that only one DRC airline is allowed on European routes.
The cargo plane in Pointe-Noire belongs to French firm Aero Service and the Boeing 727 to Canadian Airways.
AFP
Source:
http://www.24.com/news/?p=tsa&i=823419