Video footage showed huge plumes of black smoke billowing from the plane after its landing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A terrifying video showing the moment an Embraer ERJ-145 flight crash landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday (Nov 17) is being widely circulated on social media. The chartered plane was carrying the country’s mines minister Louis Watum Kabamba to Kolwezi airport in Lualaba region, who was due to travel on to a nearby cobalt mine where 32 people died in a bridge collapse, according to a BBC report.
The two-minute, 51-second footage captured by a passenger shows the aircraft, with flaps deployed, descending steadily to land. However, seconds later, the plane touched down before the displaced runway threshold, resulting in a main gear collapse.
Panicked voices could he heard inside the cabin as the plane eventually came to a stop off the runway on its belly while the tail area burst into flames. Fortunately, all passengers managed to evacuate seconds before flames engulfed the rear half of the plane.
Another dramatic video footage of the incident showed thick black smoke billowing from the wreckage as officials escaped in panic. Images captured of the registration and fuselage markings indicate that the aircraft is D2-AJB, from the fleet of Angolan operator Airjet.
According to a report in FlightGlobal, NOTAM dated November 13 stated that the threshold for runway 29 had been shifted by 1,000 metres owing to works, leaving 1,500 metres available for landing.
Congo’s BPEA, an agency responsible for conducting independent investigations into civil aviation accidents, opened a probe into the accident stating that the aircraft operated Kinshasa N’Djili to Kolwezi via Lubumbashi. At Kolwezi, the aircraft skidded off the runway and caught fire. There were no fatalities, later adding that there was only material damage.
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The minister and a delegation of about 20 were unharmed in the plane blaze, a spokesperson for Kabamba told the local media outlets.
“It should be emphasised that this air incident in no way affects the determination of…the minister, who has already begun technical meetings with the relevant authorities regarding the mission to Kalando and the necessary measures to support the affected communities,” the Ministry of Mines said in a statement.
