JUBA PLANE CRASH KILLS DOZENS
(Posted 04th November 2015)
A Soviet era Antonov 12, built in 1971, crashed immediately after attempting to take off from Juba International Airport earlier today, killing almost all on board as well as people on the ground.
The aircraft, reportedly owned by Allied Services Limited was registered in Tajikistan as EY-406 with manufacturer’s production number 01347704. The ill fated flight was on a domestic cargo service from Juba to the down of Paloch. The aircraft, besides a crew of at least 5 had also reported 7 additional passengers though eye witness reports now coming in speak of at least 40 bodies seen in the wreckage, which thankfully did not catch fire on impact.
(Pictures courtesy of @radiomiraya
Soviet era aircraft still fly by their dozens in Africa and are often used for both cargo and passenger uplift but increasingly are spare parts more difficult to source, is maintenance at approved facilities hard to find and is crew training conveniently ignored, with some crash reports in the past speaking openly of falsified documentation.
The plane came down less than a kilometre from the end of the Juba runway and had just barely crossed the Nile River before disintegrating on impact at the river bank on the opposite side.
While no speculation over the cause of the crash can be entertained at this early stage – air accident investigators have been dispatched to the scene to secure and collect parts of the wreckage and flight voice and data recorders as evidence – are the tyres shown in the picture bald, not a reassuring sign of regular upkeep and preventive maintenance with key parts like tyres regularly replaced.
Condolences are expressed to the families and friends of all those who perished in this crash.
