LIGHT AIRCRAFT CRASH – PLANE DESTROYED, PASSENGERS CHEAT DEATH
(Posted 23rd August 2014)
A pilot and at least three passengers in an American registered single engine light aircraft miraculously escaped with what has been described minor injuries after their plane developed mechanical problems after takeoff from an airstrip near Fort Portal in Western Uganda.
The privately owned plane, registered apparently as N9698G, a Cessna 206 with MSN U20603826 and owned by the pilot, one Jeffery Scott Cash, reportedly carried evangelical staff from Fort Portal to an event in Arua but when the engine stopped came down about 20 minutes after leaving the ground.
The aircraft, according to the Entebbe airport based source, was destroyed beyond repair on impact and the passengers escaped from the wreckage and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of some unspecified injuries. An air accident investigation is going underway now which will also have to look into the legalities of the flight, i.e. if it was of a commercial nature and if so what if any local permit the plane had to undertake such flights in Ugandan airspace. Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across Eastern Africa.
