Angola: Plane Crash

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BBC

Wednesday, 15 November, 2000, 15:53 GMT Plane crash in Angola

A Russian-built Antonov plane has crashed near the Angolan capital Luanda, killing all 40 people on board and one person on the ground.

The Portugese news agency said one of its correspondents counted 41 badly burned bodies at the crash scene, including women and children.

Angolan national radio reported the plane was on fire before it crashed.

It reported that the plane crashed five minutes after take-off in wasteland in the Golfe neighbourhood, in the outskirts of Luanda

Second crash

This is the second Antonov to crash in Angola within the last three weeks.

On 31 October, an Antonov-26 crashed near the northern Angolan town of Saurimo, 700 km (450 miles) east of Luanda.

All 50 passengers and crew were killed.

Unita rebels said they shot the aircraft down, but the authorities said a technical fault in one of the engines was the cause of the crash.

Conflicting causes

Other crashes in recent years have been blamed on poor aircraft maintenance.

The rebels have in the past shot down civilian planes, claiming that they were supplying government troops.

There are dozens of Russian-made Antonov planes in Angola, used by private companies for passenger and cargo business across the country.

Angolan aviation experts travelled to Russia in September to urge Russian authorities to stop exporting rundown aircraft to the south-west African nation.

In October, the Angolan government announced that nearly 400 Russian pilots working in the country would be submitted to flying tests.

The decision came amid allegations that Russian pilots were flying under the influence of alcohol.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 15, 2000


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