Passengers 13 or more Survivors 2 Date 4 November 2015 Survivor 2 | Fatalities 37 Aircraft type Antonov An-12BK Number of deaths 37 Crew count 6 | |
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Summary Under investigation, overloading suspected Site near White Nile, approx 800m from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan Flight origins Juba International Airport, Juba, South Sudan Similar 2015 Villa Castelli mid‑air co, Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines Fl, 2015 Moncks Corner mi, 2015 Eglin Air Force Base heli, Trigana Air Service Flight 267 | ||
On 4 November 2015, an Antonov An-12 cargo aircraft crashed near the White Nile shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport serving Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. The official death toll stands at 37, including the crew of six. One adult passenger and a baby girl were the only survivors.
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Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Antonov An-12BK, registration EY-406 (Tajikistan), msn 01347704, built in 1971 by TAPOiCh. It was operated by Allied Services Ltd, a logistics company based in South Sudan at Juba airport, leased from Tajikistan's Asia Airways.
Accident
The aircraft was operating a cargo flight from Juba International Airport to Paloich Airport in the extreme northeastern South Sudan, an oil field. It departed Juba's runway 13 but impacted a hill about 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) past the runway end and came to rest on the banks of the White Nile.
Authorities in South Sudan reported that the aircraft was overloaded, with most of the passengers being oil workers. The government spokesman of South Sudan said that there were at least 18 people on board. Early reports of the number killed varied, but the total now stands at 37, according to South Sudan's Minister of Transportation, Kuong Danhier Gatluak. The crew of the plane comprised five Armenians and one Russian. There were initially three survivors, passenger Wuor Arop and an unrelated 13-month-old baby girl whom he had cradled, together with a third, reported to be a crew member, who later died in hospital. It is common for the security services to place family members on cargo planes to Paloich even if they are not on the manifest, according to Kenyi Galla, assistant operations manager for Combined Air Services, a company that operates chartered flights across South Sudan.
Investigation
An unnamed source at the Russian aviation agency said that the An-12, made in the Soviet Union in 1971, appeared to have been overloaded.