Miraculous: All 29 Survive In The DRC In Plane Crash

Intro

Earlier this week, footage was released of a horrific plane crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While there were many tragic deaths that occurred in the mining accident, there has been a miracle that everyone on board somehow survived this. Obviously, news out of the DRC isn't as widespread as other regions in the world, but I'll do my best to showcase what occurred here.

The Details

On November 17th, a plane was chartered by the government to carry the minister of mining from Kinshasa to Kolwezi, after a tragic incident of a bridge collapsed, killing over 30 individuals. However, after a routine flight, the Embraer 145 overshot the runway into Kolwezi, leaving the 145 bursting into flames.

What a horrific accident

For reference, all 29 passengers and flight crew on board have been accounted for alive, but the aircraft in question will never fly again (D2-AJB). Interestingly, the 145LR was from charter company AirJet Angola, which has a total of 4 aircraft in its fleet, with the largest being the 145LR. This will be a massive blow for the charter company.

What Occurred?

As I mentioned previously, there is very limited news coverage on the topic at the moment. However, there are a couple of different theories coming out about what happened here:

1. Supposedly, the runway at Kolwezi is usually 2500 meters long. However, recently, there has been construction done on the final part of the runway, consisting of 1000 meters, thus leaving the 145LR only 1500 meters to land. Now, they still reportedly touched down before the threshold, and 1500 meters is usually enough, but perhaps this plays a role?

2. Another report is coming out that the main landing gear collapsed, hence why the plane skidded off and came to a stop in that fashion. Unfortunately, there are no videos out there explaining how the main landing gear would've collapsed, but one has to wonder if this was pilot error or something to do with a technical issue inside the aircraft.

What we do know is that once the aircraft came to a stop, the tail end of the 145LR began to catch on fire. All 29 people on board were evacuated, and all accounted for alive (amazing news).

For the time being, there is no conclusive evidence into the cause of this accident, but an investigation is underway to help determine the cause.

Final Thoughts

On November 17th, a plane carrying the minister of mines in the DRC, along with his response team for a tragic event killing 32 people, caught on fire after the main landing gear collapsed on a shortened runway. Miraculously, all 29 people on board got out alive and were able to help with the situation on the ground in Kolwezi, but an investigation is needed here to help determine what went wrong.