/ 9 February 1999

PLANE CRASH PILOTS ‘DRUNK’

TWO people were killed and about 10 injured in last week’s crash of an Antonov-26 cargo plane in Angola and the Russian pilots, said to have been drunk, will be tried. Angolan aviation officials said on Tuesday that a pregnant woman was among those killed when the transport plane, owned by the Airangol company, crashed on February 3 at Luzumba in the eastern Lunda Norte province. In the past few months, several Antonov planes of Soviet origin have crashed or disappeared over the diamond-rich provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. Last Tuesday, an Antonov-12 crashed into the densely populated Cazenga district of Luanda, killing 30 people and injuring many others. In view of recent disasters, aviation officials have taken to checking all planes taking off from Luanda but difficulties arise from a lack of spare parts, properly equipped airports and the heavy air traffic over Luanda.