Kinshasa air disaster
| Kinshasa air disaster | |
|---|---|
 The crashed Antonov An-32B in 1994 |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Overshooting the runway |
| place | N'Dolo Airport , Kinshasa , Zaire |
| date | January 8, 1996 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Survivors | 4th |
| Fatalities on the ground | approx. 297 to 350 |
| Injured on the ground | about 500 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Antonov An-32B |
| operator | African Air |
| Mark | RA-26222 |
| Passengers | 0 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The Kinshasa air disaster occurred on January 8, 1996 at 12:43 p.m. local time when an Antonov An-32B shot over the end of the runway while taking off from Kinshasa-N'Dolo Airport and sped into an adjacent marketplace. This accident is the most serious aviation accident to date on the African mainland and, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the aviation accident which resulted in the highest number of victims on the ground worldwide.
background
The Antonov An-32B involved was a cargo plane belonging to the Russian company Moscow Airways , which also provided the six-person crew. Although the Russian Ministry of Transport had already withdrawn the company's Air Operator Certificate in September 1995 due to safety concerns, Moscow Airways continued to operate some aircraft in Africa without a valid operating license. The cargo airline Scibe Airlift, based at Kinshasa-N'Dolo airport, officially rented the Russian aircraft in the summer of 1995 through its sales manager based in Ostend . The aircraft was primarily used by the African Air company, which is also based in Kinshasa-N'Dolo . African Air was a bogus company founded by Jean-Pierre Bemba (the managing director of Scibe Airlift ) together with a son of President Mobutu . Although African Air did not have its own Air Operator Certificate, the company used the Antonov several times for freight transport to neighboring Angola, which was torn by the civil war . She used the Scibe Airlift operator's certificate for international flights . After a load of weapons destined for UNITA was discovered on board a Scibe aircraft at Kinshasa de Ndjili airport , the suspicion arose that the crashed Antonov was also loaded with military goods. This was neither confirmed nor denied by the Russian pilots. According to the organization Human Rights Watch , the cargo on the machine consisted of flammable liquids, which, like weapons, were subject to the UN embargo. It could not be conclusively clarified which cargo the aircraft had carried.
Course and cause
The fully fueled aircraft was supposed to take off from the 1,686 meter long runway 26 of Kinshasa-N'Dolo airport in a westerly direction. According to witnesses, the machine did not reach the speed required to take off despite full engine power.
The crew initiated the aborted take-off too late. The plane shot over the runway, crossed a street and sped into a vegetable market that was held in the open air on the immediately adjacent area. The Antonov collided with several vehicles and market stalls, went up in flames and cut a 100-meter-long aisle through the market area. The accident happened during peak business hours. The majority of the victims were women and children.
The accident is due to the machine being overloaded. According to unconfirmed reports, the maximum take-off weight was exceeded by 270 kilograms (or 595 pounds ). The pilots stated in the court hearing that only 2 tons of cargo were shown on their loading papers, but the machine was actually loaded with 11 tons of cargo.
Number of victims
The Russian pilots were charged with the killing of 225 people. However, it is questionable whether the number of victims mentioned in the process corresponds to the actual number of those killed. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that more than 260 people were killed. The British Civil Aviation Authority, the Associated Press and other media unanimously report 297 fatalities. Other sources report 350 and more deaths.
The three city hospitals were unable to cope with the medical care of the approx. 500 injured people because, in addition to blood and medicines, simple things such as bandages and disposable gloves were missing. It remained unclear how many people died from their injuries. According to the Kinshasa University Hospital, a total of 348 people died in the accident and as a result of injuries.
There are also contradicting information about the number of crew members killed. The majority stated that two of the six crew members were killed. However, some sources report that the entire six-person crew survived the disaster.
Judgments
The two pilots Nikolai Kasarin and Andrei Guskow were sentenced in Kinshasa for negligent homicide in 225 cases to two years imprisonment each. According to the indictment, the pilots reacted too slowly and initiated the abortion too late because they were under the influence of alcohol .
The airlines Scibe Airlift and African Air were ordered to pay a total of US $ 1.4 million in compensation to the injured and bereaved .
Web links
- The Forgotten Disaster in Zaire ( Memento from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (no longer available, copy on archive.org is The Forgotten Disaster in Zaire ( Memento from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ))
Individual evidence
- ↑ The most serious aircraft accident to date on the African continent occurred on the Canary Islands , see the plane disaster in Tenerife .
- ↑ a b Russian Aviation, Airfax Newsletter from January 12, 1996 aeroweb.lucia.it ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Chaos in the sky over Africa . In: Die Zeit , No. 5/1996
- ↑ a b Washington Post , March 21, 1997
- ^ Johan Peleman: The logistics of sanctions busting: the airborne component . P. 300, iss.co.za ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ↑ SIPRI, Scibe Airlift sipri.org ( Memento of the original of May 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e The Forgotten Disaster in Zaire, William Henry, 2006 The Forgotten Disaster in Zaire ( Memento from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Human Rights Watch, Arms Trade and Embargo hrw.org
- ↑ a b aviation-safety.net January 8, 1996
- ↑ ICRC, January 8, 1996 icrc.org
- ^ Aviation Safety Review 1990–1999 . ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) Civil Aviation Authority
- ^ Death Toll in Zaire Crash Rises to 297. In: The New York Times . January 10, 1996, accessed January 8, 2016 .
- ↑ crashes . In: Berliner Zeitung , November 1, 1999
- ^ CNN, World News Brief, Jan. 10, 1996 edition.cnn.com
- ↑ polity.org.za October 5, 2007 ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Prehospital and Disaster Medicine pdm.medicine.wisc.edu ( Memento of the original dated February 28, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ airdisaster.com January 8, 1996
- ↑ planecrashinfo.com January 8, 1996
- ↑ Tina Susman: No relief for victims or accused in Zaire airport disaster . January 5, 1997, tinasusman.com ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 4 ° 19 ′ 47.8 ″ S , 15 ° 19 ′ 8.3 ″ E