 9L-LBT, the aircraft involved in the accident. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 3 June 2007 |
| Summary | Mechanical failure |
| Site | Lungi, Sierra Leone |
| Aircraft type | Mil Mi-8 [1] |
| Operator | Paramount Airlines |
| Registration | 9L-LBT |
| Passengers | 20 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 22 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 3 June 2007 a Mil Mi-8 helicopter operated by Paramount Airlines crashed near Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone, killing approximately 20 to 22 people.[ needs update ]
In 2007, helicopter, hovercraft, and sea ferry were the only practical ways to travel between the airport and the capital, Freetown, which are separated by the Sierra Leone River as it meets the Atlantic Ocean. [2]
The passengers on board were Togolese football fans who were returning from watching their national team play that of Sierra Leone, and the two pilots were of Ukrainian origin. The passengers had chartered the aircraft specifically for the flight. [1]
According to an eyewitness, both pilots jumped out immediately prior to the crash. [2] Later reports stated that 22 were killed, and that the Russian copilot was the only survivor. [3] The aircraft caught fire upon impact and was destroyed before firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. [2] According to airport witnesses the firefighters did not attend the scene until 40 minutes after the crash. The firefighter who had the keys to the fire truck was not at his station in the airport at the time. Airport staff had to douse the flames with buckets of water.
Togo sent a six-person delegation to help investigate the crash, as most of the dead were Togolese football fans visiting for an African Cup of Nations qualifying match on Sunday. They included Togolese Minister of Sports Richard Attipoe. [3]
Sierra Leone's Minister of transport and communications Dr Prince Harding as well as the two top aviation officials in the country lost their jobs as a result of the crash and a commission of enquiry was set up.
UTA Flight 141 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Guinean regional airline Union des Transports Africains de Guinée, flying from Conakry to Dubai with stopovers in Benin, Libya and Lebanon. On 25 December 2003, the Boeing 727–223 operating the flight struck a building and crashed into the Bight of Benin while rolling for take off from Cotonou, killing 141 people. The crash of Flight 141 was the deadliest crash in Benin's aviation history.
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Paramount Airlines is an aviation company in Sierra Leone that used to provide a helicopter service between the capital, Freetown, and Lungi International Airport as well as other cities within the country.
Freetown International Airport (officially), locally known as Lungi International Airport, is an international airport located in the coastal town of Lungi, Sierra Leone. It is the only international airport in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone River separates the airport from Freetown, the nation's capital city.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 2007.
UTair Flight 471 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Tupolev Tu-134 on 17 March 2007, that suffered heavy structural damage during a hard landing at Samara Kurumoch Airport near Samara, Russia. Of the 50 passengers and 7 crew members on board, 6 people were killed and 20 injured when the aircraft broke apart. The plane was flying from the Siberian city of Surgut to Samara and then to Belgorod.
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The following list is of events that happened during 2007 in Sierra Leone.
One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 (OG269) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand. On 16 September 2007, about 15:41 ICT, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating the flight crashed into an embankment beside runway 27 at Phuket International Airport (HKT) bursting into flames upon impact during an attempted go-around after an aborted landing, killing 90 of the 130 persons on board. It is the third deadliest aviation incident to occur in Thailand.
Aeroflot Flight 411 was an international scheduled flight from Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow to Freetown, Sierra Leone via Dakar in Senegal. Early on 6 July 1982, the four-engined Ilyushin Il-62 crashed and was destroyed by fire after two engines were shut down shortly after take-off. All 90 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the crash.
On 10 June 2012, an aviation accident occurred involving a Kenya Police helicopter. The Eurocopter AS350 crashed on a hill, killing all six people on board. Among the fatalities were Kenya's Interior Security Minister George Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode.
On 13 February 2013, a Ukrainian Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft operating South Airlines flight 8971 crashed on landing at Donetsk International Airport, Ukraine, killing 5 of the 52 people on board.
US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, that crashed on 12 March 2018 while landing, killing 51 of the 71 people aboard. The aircraft, a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 operated by US-Bangla Airlines, burst into flames after the crash. The 20 surviving passengers were seriously injured from the impact and the fire. It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi airline, and the deadliest incident involving the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
On 27 October 2018, a Leonardo AW169 helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from Leicester City's King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, while on route to Luton Airport. All people on board—the pilot and four passengers, including club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha—were killed in the crash. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch attributed the crash to a loss of yaw control owing to a failure of the tail rotor control linkage.
On February 27, 2019, Air Dynasty's Eurocopter AS350 B3e carrying six passengers and one pilot was scheduled to travel on a domestic chartered flight from Pathibhara Devi Temple in Taplejung to Chuhandanda in Tehrathum, Nepal. The aircraft crashed at approximately 1.30 p.m. (NPT) due to bad weather in Taplejung. All seven people on board died in the crash, including Rabindra Prasad Adhikari, Nepal's Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation.