LIGHT AIRCRAFT DITCHES IN LAKE MANYARA
(Posted 23rd August 2013)
A light aircraft enroute from Bukoba / Lake Victoria to Arusha yesterday developed problems and had to ‘ditch’ in the shallow waters of Lake Manyara, but was able to send out a distress call before going down.
According to the patch information received up to now, all on board survived the crash without much of injuries and they were rescued by villagers nearby who used canoes to reach the stricken plane and take the 6 passengers and pilot on to dry land. The incident became first known when one of the passengers’ friends tweeted about the incident in the afternoon but when following up no added information could be obtained at the time other than through a second tweet that her friend was shaken but ok.
The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has already taken steps to launch a full accident investigation to determine the cause of the crash, be it mechanical failure or else pilot error. Staff from TCAA and from other local security agencies are expected to be on site at first light this morning.
Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across Eastern Africa.
