United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
5 September 2008
An aircraft under contract to Air Serv International in the Democratic Republic of Congo, en route from Kisangani to Bukavu, failed to land and crashed about 15 kms away from Kavumu airport on 1 September 2008 at about 5:00 pm local time.
The plane, a Beach craft 1900 was carrying 15 passengers in addition to two crew members, collided violently with a mountain ridge and all the passengers and crew members died in the crash.
The crash site is at about 10,000 ft above sea level and is a steep slope of mount Kahuzi. The area is thick jungle and has no road/ground link. This created difficulties for the rescuers who struggled for two days before the bodies could be recovered from the debris of the aircraft, which was spread over a wide area.
Two MI-17 helicopters initiated a search on morning of 2 September and located the crash site in about an hour. The thick jungle and semi mountainous terrain coupled with the height of the area did not allow landing of any helicopter. Bad weather prevented any further rescue efforts using helicopters. The same day a ground effort was initiated to reach the crash site on foot. However it was estimated that it would take at least 2 to 3 days to reach the site and make a track accessible by foot.
The operation named Forest Savoir was conducted by the Pakistani battalion of MONUC Force in coordination with MONUC Uruguayan Air Support Unit and MONUC South African Mountaineers. Considering the situation, it was decided to drop members of Special Forces from the Pakistani Battalion with a MI-8 helicopter using slings. These personnel would prepare a landing site for the helicopters at the base of the mountain and also establish a camp for the rescue effort.
The operation commenced on 4 September, when the team was dropped. In the first sortie, two Mi-17 helicopters were utilized to drop four individuals of the Pakistani Battalion and three South African Mountaineers near the crash site.
In the second sortie, one MI-8 and one Mi-17 were utilized, four individuals were dropped. At 10:00 am, communication was established between the crash site and Operations Room of the Pakistani Battalion. At 10:30 pm, helicopter landing site was prepared near the crash site.
Three base camps were established and rescue team split up in three parties. The first base Camp was established near the helicopter landing site, the second one between the crash site and the helicopter landing site, and the third base was set up at the crash site.
The aircraft hit the mountain near its top, therefore debris was on both sides of the mountain. The recovery of the bodies became an arduous and time consuming task as they had to be carried all the way to the top of the ridgeline and then downhill from the crash site till the helicopter landing site. In addition to securing the area, MONUC Special Forces also evacuated the bodies. The combined efforts of MONUC Force (Pakistani battalion, Air Ops / Bukavu and South African Rescue team) resulted in the successful recovery of all the bodies as well as the Black Box.
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