newstodate.aero
MAY 14,2003 (newstodate): The Congolese Air Force denies claims of casualties and fatalities after an Ukrainian IL-76 accident on the route from Kinshasa to Lumubashi on May 8.
Western press otherwise reported up to 120 casualties after the accident when the aircraft, belonging to Ukrainian Aviation and Transport Company state enterprise owned by the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, reportedly lost the aft cargo ramp door.
The Congolese spokesman told press that the Il-76 captain had informed the company's leadership that on May 8th at the 40th minute of the flight, at the height of 7 kilometres, the cabin of the plane carrying Congolese military men from Kinshasa to Lumubashi got decompressed. The crew made an emergency descending and turned back to the aerodrome in Kinshasa to prevent a crash. The head of the crew pointed out that the passengers had been neither killed nor wounded, and the cargo was also safe.
According to Ukrainian press, a group of experts from the Ukrainian Aviation and Transport Company has left for Congo in order to study the circumstances and aftermath of the accident.
Western press otherwise reported up to 120 casualties after the accident when the aircraft, belonging to Ukrainian Aviation and Transport Company state enterprise owned by the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, reportedly lost the aft cargo ramp door.
The Congolese spokesman told press that the Il-76 captain had informed the company's leadership that on May 8th at the 40th minute of the flight, at the height of 7 kilometres, the cabin of the plane carrying Congolese military men from Kinshasa to Lumubashi got decompressed. The crew made an emergency descending and turned back to the aerodrome in Kinshasa to prevent a crash. The head of the crew pointed out that the passengers had been neither killed nor wounded, and the cargo was also safe.
According to Ukrainian press, a group of experts from the Ukrainian Aviation and Transport Company has left for Congo in order to study the circumstances and aftermath of the accident.