cargo-dus
26th May 2008, 20:47
Hi everybody
Anyone with some details on this headline ?
Near-catastrophe as one injured in DR Congo emergency landing: UN
GOMA, DRCongo, May 26, 2008 (AFP)
At least one crew member suffered injuries in a near-catastrophe Monday at an airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo where 47 people died in a crash last month, the UN reported.
© 2008 AFP
Just usual press over-reaction or fact ?
</STRONG>
V1... Ooops
27th May 2008, 04:36
The story is out on most of the newswires now. Here's the pertinant text of the report from the Radio France website:
"A new air disaster was narrowly avoided in the Democratic Republic of Congo Monday when an ageing transport plane crash-landed at an airport where 47 people died last month, the UN reported.
An Antonov-32 suffered an engine failure moments after take-off from the eastern town of Goma, according to an agent of the owners, the private Great Lakes Business Company (GLBC).
The pilot turned back and made an emergency landing, the aircraft careering off the runway before coming to a halt next to a parked helicopter, a United Nations spokeswoman added.
"There were no passengers on-board, just the crew who suffered slight injuries," the GLBC agent added on condition of anonymity.
"A catastrophe was narrowly avoided," said Sylvie van den Wildenberg of the local UN DR Congo (MONUC) mission.
"The plane halted just a few metres (yards) from a helicopter and not far from another plane."
The Antonov caught fire moments after the crew evacuated it, the UN spokeswoman added later. "MONUC firefighters were able to control the fire before it could spread through the whole plane."
The owner of GLBC, Congolese businessman Douglas Mpano, has been formally grounded since 2005 by the UN Security Council for violating an arms embargo in the country.
His company has also been subject to UN sanctions since March 2007, suspected of transporting arms and munitions.
There was no information on the Antonov's cargo, save that it was carrying freight for another company, Afreco.
The plane ended up in grass near a crust of lava that had poured over the runway during an eruption from the nearby Nyiragongo volcano in 2002.
The April 18 disaster claiming 47 lives at the same airport was the country's fifth fatal plane crash since June last year.... yada, yada, yada, about 3 paragraphs more discussing the safety record in DRC...
Michael