Antonov crashes in capital of Congo

Post by **Dalton** » 2007-10-04 07:34am

KINSHASA, Congo - A cargo plane crashed in a residential neighborhood of Congo's capital Thursday morning, airport officials said.

Airport officer Appo Ilunga said the Antonov 26 crashed into a market area of the Kingasani neighborhood. He said he did not yet know if there were any deaths, or how many people were aboard the plane.

Cargo planes in Congo are often flown by experienced pilots from former Soviet states, but the aircraft are often old, ill-maintained and overcrowded. Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported that the plane had a Russian crew.

In 1996, an Antonov 32 turboprop crashed seconds after takeoff from Kinshasa's main airport, skidding across a busy street and plowing into a crowded open-air market. The crash killed at least 300 people, one of the worst air accidents in Congo's history.

Few passable roads traverse Congo after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing the country's deeply impoverished people to rely on often-unsafe boats and planes to move around.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2007-10-04 10:28am

A picture of the type of plane in the article

That's fucked up. Right on some poor guys house. What a way to go.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2007-10-04 11:56am

Were the pilots drunk? Yes, serious question.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2007-10-04 07:05pm

Beowulf wrote:Were the pilots drunk? Yes, serious question.

I want to be, before I got on board a former Soviet aircraft being maintained in the Congo, or anywhere else in Africa for that matter. Its bad enough that airport runways are routinely used as roads in many areas, requiring landing aircraft to buzz the field before making an attempt to set down.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-10-06 07:58am

which remincs me of the national geographic TV spot years ago about people in China and parts of the pacific who, fanatically repair, machine new parts, and do all kinds of serious maintenace on WWII vehicles and aircraft, because that's all that can get through some of the back water areas. I mean it's an impressive feat, that a Russian built american truck is still traveling the himilayas, or that a Seaplane/spotter/bomber is still island hopping delivering cargo, all those years later....