(Posted 31st March 2024)
A Kenyan registered Boeing B727F, 5Y-IRE, MSN 21931/1531 reportedly crashed on landing at Malakal airport in Northern South Sudan earlier today.
All seven on board the aircraft managed to escape and although the aircraft broke into sections did no fire break out.
The 45 year old aircraft, owned and operated by Safe Air, arrived for a cargo delivery from South Sudan’s capital Juba, reportedly touched down, then left the runway for yet to be determined reasons and crashed into an aircraft wreck which had not been removed since it crashed in February.
At that time did another Kenya registered MD80, 5Y-AXL, owned and operated by African Express, land short of the runway, suffer a gear collapse and subseqently ended up in a wreck, luckily with no fatalities. The MD80 itself was 40 years old at the time of the accident.
A regular aviation source from Juba slammed the local civil aviation authority for failing to ensure that the MD80 wreck was removed in a timely manner and key aviation safety issues at Malakal – and other local airports – addressed. The same source also decried the use of aged and very aged aircraft for being permitted to fly in South Sudan with a lack of capacity by local aviation authorities for continuous technical oversight.
South Sudan is one of Africa’s countries with among the highest number of air accidents, mostly by aged and very aged aircraft.
