More Bad News

[EricT]

KINSHASA, Congo - The rear door of a Russian-built cargo plane burst open as the aircraft was carrying police officials and their families across Congo, and 129 passengers were sucked out, airport officials said Friday.

From Yahoo.com

[I_Money]

It shows how important seat belts are!!

[THE_DUKE]

Iain, is that suppose to be funny? That is a very very sad story! My prayers are with those families.

[I_Money]

No not at all, from what I have heard it was a cargo plane with people sitting on floor. If they had propper seating with seatbelts then this would not have happened. I often see people without there seatbelts on, and it amazes me considering that on more then 1 occasion there has been an explosive decompression on an airliner.

[n77j]

Iain,
Most of the the Russian planes flying in Africa (especiall in Congo) do not have seats. People are stucked up with the cargo in the back of the plane and seat-belt is a term unheard of !

[EricT]

I can't recall any other accident in which there was such a large loss of life without loosing the aircraft as well.

Not sure who is in charge down there, but I hope that they employ more safety precautions to prevent this from happening again.

This airframe has a history of problems as well.

[I_Money]

Africa is probably the most beautiful continent, but their culture in regards to safety differs so much from ours. I know in Uganda the DMV manuals says 'If you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, drive carefully'. When my dad used to live in South Africa it was not uncommon for people to crawl to their car (standing up was hard when you had that much to drink) and drive themselves home. But when a bottle of rum is cheaper then a bottle of coke it is hardly surprising they drunk that much.

Eric I recall an incident during the Vietnam war which was essentially the same as this. A USAF plane carrying orphans had a decompression problem and they were sucked out.

[pilot602]

That sucks.

[Capt. Spud]

I agree with you Iain, Africa is very beautiful, but dangerous when compared to first world countries like the U.S and Western Europe.

Friends of mine fly professionally in Africa and it is a regular practice to use cargo planes without any seats to transport as many people as they can cram into it. Not the safest idea I suppose.

Regarding the drinking and driving in South Africa...

I lived in South Africa for 18 years and a lot of people did drink and drive but South Africa is a hell of a lot more advanced than the rest of Africa. We have road-blocks setup to issue the equivalent of DUIs. The traffic cops have breathalisers and arrest drunk drivers all the time. It's illegal and drunk drivers ARE prosecuted. But I suppose they way S.A. is going now , I wont be surprised if you could bribe your way out of a DUI.

Unfortunately, Rum was a lot more expensive than Coke though

[EricT]

I can only imagine the trouble that I would be in if run more less expensive than coke.

A lot of folks poke fun at the rules that the Feds impose on us. I think that this scenario makes a good argument for having them. Although there is a fine point where they over step their bounds in the name of safety, such as some of the TFR's.

[chris6387]

129 Congo Air Passengers Feared

[THE_DUKE]

45 minutes in flight... doesn't look good for the possibility of any survivors. However there is always that miracle story that makes you say MAN! Like the hiker who cut off his own arm after being trapped under a boulder for 5 days... MAN!