LUANDA, Angola – An Antonov 24 airplane, carrying up to 40 people, crashed Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Luanda airport, killing all on board after it had slammed into open ground and burst into a fireball.
National Civil Aviation director Branco Ferreira said there were no survivors. He said there were between 30 and 40 people on board, including four Russian crew. The rest were Angolans, he said.
The plane went down at about 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the international airport. It was on a domestic flight to Namibe, about 700 kilometers (420 miles) south of Luanda.
Rescue teams at the scene extinguished the flames and retrieved the flight data recorder, according to Branco Ferreira. No one on the ground was injured.
The plane had been chartered by the Angolan company Asas Pesadas. Civil aviation and the Angolan Air Force convened an emergency meeting to examine safety procedures.
The crash was the latest fatal incident involving Antonov aircraft in Angola.
After an Antonov 26 crashed two weeks ago in northeastern Angola, killing all 48 people on board, the government ordered all Antonov aircraft grounded. Angolan aviation experts also traveled in September to Moscow to urge Russian authorities to stop exporting rundown aircraft to Angola.
It was not clear whether the plane in Wednesday’s crash was licensed to fly.
Private companies often hire Antonov planes to transport passengers and cargo across Angola since land mines and skirmishes make road travel treacherous.
Also, UNITA rebels in the past have targeted civilian planes they suspect of ferrying supplies to government troops.
Many of the pilots flying Antonov planes in Angola are Russian or Ukrainian. In September, the government announced that some 400 Russian pilots working in Angola would have to pass new flying tests.
The Angolan Association of Pilots welcomed the decision, saying Russian pilots often are accused of flying while drunk and failing to maintain their aircraft.
In March, a Soviet-made Antonov 36 crashed during takeoff in central Angola. Three people were killed and 30 injured.
