SEVEN DEAD IN YET ANOTHER ANTONOV CRASH IN CONGO
(Posted 21st December 2018)
(Antonov 26 outline)
Reports of another Antonov 26 crash in Congo DR were confirmed earlier today when a search and rescue mission turned into a mere recovery mission with no survivors found in the wreckage of the stricken craft. The aircraft, nearly 35 years old and registered as 9S-AGB, MSN 13402, was operated by GOMAIR, a company on the EU blacklist over safety concerns.
This is the second known crash of this airline which in 2006 suffered another fatality in a LET410 accident.
The cargo flight, enroute to Kinshasa (IATA FIH / ICAO FZAA) from Tshikapa (IATA TSH / ICAO FZUK) crashed for yet to be established reasons some 37 kilometres out of the airport.
The aircraft had reportedly delivered election materials to Tshikapa.
Congo has a long history of air accidents and notably many of those involving former Soviet era aircraft. As a result of such crashes and in addition to broad safety concerns by the EU – besides regulatory and general safety oversight concerns touching on the capacity of aviation regulators – Congolese airlines have been banned from flying into or across the European Union.
