TRAINING FLIGHT PILOTS ESCAPE CRASH ALIVE
(Posted 05th October 2013)
A trainee pilot and his instructor escaped alive against the odds the day before yesterday, when their Cessna 206 developed engine problems inflight and crash landed in a suburb of Dar es Salaam. No one on the ground was injured but crowds of spectators quickly formed around the mangled wreckage of the plane which is registered with the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority as 5H IBB, serial number 04764, manufactured in 1980. The two pilots, who sustained minor injuries and cuts during the crash, will be interviewed by the TCAA air accident investigation branch team as an enquiry is now underway to establish the cause of the accident.
The same plane was reportedly involved in a crash landing in December 2000 at the remote Kiba airstrip in the Selous Game Reserve when coming in from Mafia island with 5 passengers on board. On landing the aircraft, coming in reportedly too fast and without flaps set, overshot the strip and crashed into trees and debris at which time it sustained propeller and undercarriage damage, but was eventually repaired and put back into service. Initial feedback from Tanzanian aviation sources say that this time the plane appears beyond repairs as the landing gear was ripped off, the engine separated from the hull and the tail section twisted.
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