Plane crashes at end of runway; 85 aboard

[Kubwajinga]

Wanajumuia,
Nyumbani tuna mashirika ya ndege makubwa kama matatu hivi. Hivi ni nani anayeyakagua? Wanaponunua hizi ndege zao mitumba, ni nani anazipitisha? Tuombe Mungu haya yaliyotokea Congo yasitufike.



Congo plane crashes at end of runway; 85 aboard
By CHARLES NTIRYCHA – 1 hour ago

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A Congolese jetliner carrying around 85 people failed to take off Tuesday from an airport in this eastern town, crashing at high speed into a busy market neighborhood at the end of the runway, officials said.

Government officials initially said there were only six known survivors but later in the day an airline official said 60 people had survived. Local officials said dozens of bodies were pulled from the wreckage, though it was unclear if they had been passengers.

Debri lies on the ground as rescue workers and onlookers gather at the site of a plane crash in Goma, in Congo , Tuesday April 15 2008. A passenger plane carrying 85 people crashed into a crowded neighborhood in the eastern Congo town Goma on Tuesday, and only six survivors have been found so far, government officials said. Smoke engulfed the charred ruins of the aircraft, which appeared to have broken in two when it slammed into the rooftops of about 10 cement homes just outside the airport, destroying them instantly.(AP Photo/Lauren Vopni)​

Smoke and flames engulfed the charred ruins of the aircraft, which appeared to have broken in two when it slammed into the rooftops of about 10 cement homes just outside the airport, destroying them instantly. Soldiers kept onlookers away after U.N. peacekeepers helped douse flames at the crash site.​

"Smoke was rising from the plane," said Christian Kilundu, a spokesman for the Goma office of World Vision, an international aid group that has an office less than half a mile from the crash site. "As fire extinguishers were trying to put out the flames, I spoke to a priest who had been pulled from the wreckage. He was disorientated and had no idea what had happened."

Officials said they had no information on casualties among residents of the area.

The plane was operated by the private Congolese company, Hewa Bora, and was headed to the central city of Kisangani, then the capital, Kinshasa. Hewa Bora's Dirk Cramers said 53 passengers and seven crew were taken from the site and were at local hospitals.

Julien Mpaluku, the governor of the province, said there were 79 passengers on board and six crew members.

"We have already picked up many bodies — dozens of bodies. There are a lot of flames, which makes it difficult to know if the bodies we are picking up are those of passengers of the plane or else passers-by or people that lived in the area where the plane crashed," Mpaluku said.

Employees at World Vision said the plane "failed to leave the ground," plowing instead "through wooden houses and shops in the highly populated Birere market."

The plane appeared to have been "totally flattened" by the impact, said Rachel Wolff, a U.S.-based spokeswoman for the organization who has been in contact with her colleagues in Congo.

World Vision employees who visited the scene of the crash said they saw at least eight bodies. Hours afterward, the market stalls where women had been selling their wares earlier in the day were still in flames, said Wolff.

A former pilot who survived the crash, Dunia Sindani, gave a similar account in an interview broadcast over a local U.N. radio station. The plane suffered a problem in one of its wheels — possibly a flat tire — and did not gain the strength to lift off, Sindani said.

Earlier, conflicting accounts said the plane had crashed just after takeoff.

The tragedy underscored the dangers of plane travel in Congo, which has experienced more fatal crashes than any other African country since 1945, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

Just last Friday, the European Union added Hewa Bora Airways to its blacklist of airlines banned from flying in the EU, without specifying a reason.

On Tuesday, European Union spokesman Michele Cercone said she had no information on Hewa Bora specifically but she said that all airlines based in Congo are banned from EU air space.

"That is because there is a general lack of effective control by the civil aviation authorities there to monitor and maintain minimum technical standards" for airplanes, Cercone said.

The EU's current list of banned airlines shows 50 airlines based in Congo, including Hewa Bora. Cercone said that until a few weeks ago one Hewa Bora plane was allowed to fly to Europe under a special exemption, but that has expired.

Associated Press writers Eddy Isango in Kinshasa, Congo and Robert Wielaard in Brussels contributed to this report.

 

[Kana-Ka-Nsungu]

Mbona kila chombo cha habari kinaiandika hii ajali kivyake? Mimi nimeona kwenye CNN wakisema so far watu 75 wamepoteza maisha na kuna 15 survivers na reporter wao alikuwa kwenye accident scene.Ukweli ni upi?
Mambo mengine ni aibu tupu, I couldnt believe jamaa wakisema waokoaji walikuwa wakijaribu kuuzima moto kwa kutumia maji ya ndoo! Na kama kawaida wenye njaa zao walikuwa wakijaribu kuwasachi marehemu na majeruhi ili wapate chochote!

 

[mashoo]

This is terribly sad, what can be done jamani mbona kila kukicha maafa Africa.Hiyo ya kuwasach marehemu na majeruhi nayo kali, nilifikiri ni Bongo pekee kumbe...mhhh am out of words.

 

[Kubwajinga]

This is terribly sad, what can be done jamani mbona kila kukicha maafa Africa.Hiyo ya kuwasach marehemu na majeruhi nayo kali, nilifikiri ni Bongo pekee kumbe...mhhh am out of words.

Sio uongo inasikitisha sana kwa maafa ya ndege Africa. Ndege nyingi zinazorushwa Afrika zimezeeka sana na hazifanyiwi ukaguzi wa kutosha. Precision Air na Air TZ nao nasikia wamenunua mikangafu ya Boeing 737-300 ambazo zinaondolewa kwenye matumizi na wenzetu.

Kingine kinachoathiri hasa sehemu kama Congo kwenye mawingu mengi ni ukosefu wa utabiri wa hali ya hewa unaofaa. Inabidi hili kuliimarisha kote Afrika kwa ujumla. TZ tungesikiliza ushauri wa IMF wakati tunanunua Radar, labda tungeweza kupata mbili au zaidi kwa pesa tuliyotumia kununulia ya Dar. Pengine tungepata radar kwa ajili ya Kigoma na Mwanza ambazo hata waCongo wangeweza kuzitumia na kulipa $$$.

 

[mashoo]

U'r right Kubwajinga, if our leaders could make better decisions,(something they NEVER do) we could make some CASH now and save some lives.
Poleni majirani.

Sio uongo inasikitisha sana kwa maafa ya ndege Africa. Ndege nyingi zinazorushwa Afrika zimezeeka sana na hazifanyiwi ukaguzi wa kutosha. Precision Air na Air TZ nao nasikia wamenunua mikangafu ya Boeing 737-300 ambazo zinaondolewa kwenye matumizi na wenzetu.

Kingine kinachoathiri hasa sehemu kama Congo kwenye mawingu mengi ni ukosefu wa utabiri wa hali ya hewa unaofaa. Inabidi hili kuliimarisha kote Afrika kwa ujumla. TZ tungesikiliza ushauri wa IMF wakati tunanunua Radar, labda tungeweza kupata mbili au zaidi kwa pesa tuliyotumia kununulia ya Dar. Pengine tungepata radar kwa ajili ya Kigoma na Mwanza ambazo hata waCongo wangeweza kuzitumia na kulipa $$$.

 

[Masanja]

Ndege zetu wadhungu wanaziita flying coffins! Inasikitisha sana. yaani Africa hata ndege ni kama dala dala...watu wanapanda tuu..ilmradi wafike! Unaambiwa Congo in less than a year zimetokea plane crash almost kumi. We unafikiri hii mitumba akina Chenge wanayotununulia..Tutasalimika? I doubt! Ufisadi ndo unatumaliza.......

Juzi kuna mdhungu mmoja hapa Dar ni diplomat, aliniuliza..kwa nini mdhungu anaposafiri irrespective ya cheo chake anapanda economy class..while Africans especially govt officials when they travel they use..first class..sikuwa na comment..zaidi ya kubwabwaja....Ohh..wanachoka maana Africa mpaka Europe na USA ni mbali...was I right?....Just thinking loud na ufisadi

 

[Kubwajinga]

U'r right Kubwajinga, if our leaders could make better decisions,(something they NEVER do) we could make some CASH now and save some lives.
Poleni majirani.

Mashoo,
Na wala sio hili la radar tu. Tuna bandari tatu ambazo zimelala na yote ni kwa sababu hakuna investment inazofanyiwa kwa miaka kibao. Tungetumbukiza ile pesa ya EPA na Meremeta tungeweza tukaziboresha na zikashindana na za majirani. Zingeleta ajira na kufufua chumi za hiyo mikoa. Na sio ajabu baadhi ya mizigo, hata ya Zimbabwe na Sudan, ingepitia kwetu. Kwani Mtwara kuna umbali karibu sawa na Beira vile vile Tanga na Mombasa pia ni karibu sawa.

Lakini bahati mbaya tuna viongozi waliong'ang'ania maslahi binafsi tu, k.m. Dar tukampa Karamagi's TICCS, ingawa hawana mtaji. Serikalini wamejipanga kiushikaji tu badala ya ubora na uwezo wa watendaji, na ndio maana majirani zetu wanaendelea kuvuna tuliyotakiwa tuvune sisi. Lack of stratergic administration.

Barabara za kwenda Mwanza na Kigoma kunakotakiwa ipite mizigo ya Maziwa makuu, hazipitiki. Badala yake tunajenga barabara nyingine zenye uzito mdogo kiuchumi na hatimaye tunakosa soko la DRC, Burundi, Rwanda na Uganda. Mamilioni yanapotea na maisha ya watu wa maeneo hayo hayainuki.

Airiports zetu vivyo hivyo hatuzitumii ipasavyo ingawa tuko kwenye location nzuri kuliko Kenya na South Africa. Wanasema "Just Build and they Will Come", lakini sisi hatuna huo mtazamo hata kidogo tunajaribu tu kuwaiga waKenya, utalii, utalii, utalii.

Serikali yetu haiko creative kabisa na wala haifanyi mambo stratergicaly ndio maana oportunities zinatupita tu as if zitatungoja. Mbona inasikitisha?