Aviation

14.6, crash

Kenya: a South African pilot was involved in a bizarre incident in which two aircraft crashed on a runway in Lokichokio in Northern Kenya. The runway had to be closed for two days to clear the wreckage. The accident happened when a Hawker-Siddeley 748 cargo aircraft belonging to a Kenyan airline landed without landing gear. The Hawker-Siddeley formed part of an air-bridge consisting of several aircraft from various aid organisations that transported food from Lokichokio to Sudan. The pilot had no alternative but to perform a belly-landing, and the airport was closed to incoming air traffic because of wreckage strewn on the runway. Flights were directed to other airports. About an hour later a Hercules L-100 cargo aircraft belonging to Transafrik arrived at Lokichokio after dropping emergency supplies for the United Nations World Food Programme in Sudan. Transafrik, which is based in Angola, employs several South African and former air force pilots. When the control tower turned the Hercules away, the pilot informed the crew, including the South African, that they didn't have enough fuel to reroute, but that he would instead attempt to land on a part of the runway that was clear of wreckage. The pilot set the aircraft down hard, in the process bending the aircraft's frame. The Hercules remained in one piece, but the momentum carried it forward into the wreckage of the Hawker-Siddeley. Fortunately the fire engine was still at hand after putting out the fire caused by the first crash landing. Nobody was injured.