Twin Otter ZS-NJK down in the DRC
 

Friday, 31-Aug-07 @ +- 13:30Z

South African reg: ZS-NJK, Twin Otter aircraft type, was reported "missing" soon after take-off from PUNIA (in the Kindu Region). Operator --- "AirServe Int" based in Goma. Crew are reported to be US Nationals.

Updated info received indicates a "forced landing"....both pilots were airlifted to Goma for medical treatment, by helicopter. Aircraft has been observed in Kisangani as well before.....

NJK
 

Sad to see an a/c that I spent many hours flying has crashed. is it repairable?

Glad to hear that the crew are ok.

Again? It got broken in Akon a year or so back as well.

Was that Punia or Bunia?

Twin Otter ZS-NJK down in the DRC
 

Still no more info avail regarding damage to aircraft, should have some on Monday!

PUNIA (not Bunia) - to the N / NE of Kindu.......

Best wishes to the crew... hope for a quick recovery... :ok:

Used to see that aircraft alot in Bunia, Sad. Awesome crew. Any idea's on who the aircraft belongs to?

ZS-NJK
 

Prayers and best wishes to the crew... God Bless....:ok:

Friday 31 August 2007 at approx 1300, a Solenta DHC-6 ZS-NJK on lease to a third party client, was involved in an accident 16 Nm east of Punia airstrip in DRC, approximately 8-10 minutes after take off from Punia en route Goma to the east, approximately 1hr 15 minute flight time.
The aircraft was located on a river bank.
The aircraft was on a lease to a third party client and crewed entirely by the client’s pilots, both US pilots flying on SA Validations. Both crew members are experienced DHC-6 pilots and have flown extensively in the area.

Both the pilots were located and extracted to safety by the client's own Search and Rescue party with a C208 dispatched from nearby Goma, to the east.
Solenta engineer was aboard the C208 involved in the S&R mission and the aircraft and crew were located within a very short space of time.
Solenta’s Emergency Response Plan was initiated at the distress call phase, and the follow up investigation is continuing.

Fortunately, both the client’s crew members are perfectly okay, sustaining no serious injuries.
The authorites - FAA, SA CAA and DRC CAA have been informed and have all the necessary information.
In a very short space of time, Solenta acquired a lot of information related to the accident, reports from the pilots, and reports from our engineer at the accident site.


The aircraft had no passengers or payload, as it was returning empty to Goma from Punia. Initial reports from the Solenta engineer at the crash site indicate that the aircraft is badly damaged.
The airstrip has been assessed, and used, previously by Solenta, and is deemed suitable for C208 and DHC-6 at MTOW.
Aircraft was serviceable, weather was VMC, day operations.

Chief Pilot
Solenta Aviation

Good to hear!well done to all involved in the search and rescue, sounds like an excellent job was done!Best wishes to the pilots, hope you guys recover soon!

ZS-NJK
 

Thank you so much for the update, well done.
PS: I seem to remember ex HydroAir Capt moving to yours few years ago?? .............lost contact though.

Best of luck!!

Anyone know the name of the pilots in that Otter that went down? It might be my friend.

PS: I seem to remember ex HydroAir Capt moving to yours few years ago??

He is with Simuflight at Grand central.;)

This press release from the operator provides further details, including the names of the crewmembers.

http://www.rdc-humanitaire.net/f/IMG..._Info_No25.pdf

I am glad all survived! Having worked with AirServ a number of times, I knew one of the crew. Aircraft you can replace (with difficulty!) but people not.

I also think a word of praise is due to Solenta: on the face of it, it seems like you had a well thought out and doable emergency response plan. Well done!:ok:

Agreed Pointer41. Good to see a company instantanously able to respond with a well thought out plan in place and able to implement the same immediately. Congratulations to Solenta for their professionalism and all the best wishes for the crew.

The press release from the client (cited above) states that the crew made a "forced landing", but the description of the incident on Aviation Safety Network states that the aircraft came to a final stop in a river. The owner of the aircraft has already mentioned earlier in this discussion that it was an accident, not a forced landing, and the aircraft came to rest on a river bank.

Was this Twin Otter being operated on floats, or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

No... it was NOT being operated on floats...

Word is that the pilot felt that something was wrong with the rudder/vertical stabilizer... vibration/shudder... appeared to be getting worse and decided to make a forced landing... I don't know if the forced landing was intended to be into the river or things got out of hand and the a/c just ended up there... at least one of the pilots had considerable time on the twotter...

I'm not drawing any conclusions from this..

Normal when you hit a power line few miles before :E

The landing was intended, no more rudder control; then they take the decision to land where they can ... rudder is few miles behind them ... with the power line :E

They were very lucky.
Nice also that they send an aircraft soon as possible to look for the crew.:ok:

Power line in the DRC? That's optimistic...:E

Rudder hangings need to be inspected after a hard landing, tail strike or gust pushing it hard across onto the stops. Might have been missed but pure speculation at this point.

Well it was a cable from one side of the river to the other side, for sure the only one around; I think (not sure) that was a power line (low voltage).
I've got the pictures of it :hmm: then no doubt for me when you see the pictures.
They were doing low level flying, that's also sure at 100%