By Tapeng Michael
At least five crew members working for Optimum Aviation have died in a plane crash this morning in South Sudan after take off from Juba International Airport as the government forms a team to establish the cause of the Antinov An 26 crash in Kondokoro, Juba.
The Director General of Juba International Airport, Kur Kuol said one South Sudanese, two Russians and two Sudanese nationals died in the plane crash.
“One member of the Airline company had fuel on board and the other four were just crew members. Two Russians, two Sudanese and one South Sudanese,” said the Director General for Juba Interantional Airport Kur Kuol.
He also added that once the investigation committee establishes the cause of the crash, then their finding will be made public otherwise for now it is hard to tell.
Sources say the plane was carrying 5 passengers and 25 drums of fuel en route from Juba to Maban county in Upper Nile State.
Adau James Wuor the Admin and Human Resources Officer for Optimum Aviation confirmed Tuesday in an
interview to the Juba Echo.
Optimum Aviation plane en route to Maban crashes after take off
“Five people died so far in the plane, but we are trying to find out more infromation to update the media,” Adau James Wuor the Admin and Human Resources Officer for Optimum Aviation confirmed in a statement.
Unverified reports of overloading could not really be ascertained as Antonov An 26 cargo planes offer a payload capacity of up to 6 tons, with a fully-loaded range of 367 nautical miles, and cruising speeds of up to 270 miles per hour and according to the manifest, it had 5404 kilograms of cargo.
On 2 March 2021, a Let L-410 Turbolet of South Sudan Supreme Airlines crashed in Pieri, Uror County on a domestic flight to Yuai Airstrip, South Sudan killing all ten on board.
