Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
6 July 2009
A Flying Mission and Rescue One aircraft, carrying three passengers and a pilot, crash-landed at the Gantsi airport at noon last Thursday, causing extensive damage to the plane.
The plane was bound for Gantsi to airlift a critical patient there. It is operated by medical evacuation company Rescue One, and Flying Mission, which won the tender to airlift patients from rural areas to hospitals in and outside Botswana.
Air worthiness manager at Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Joseph Ebineng, says the accident occurred due to main landing gear collapse. " That actually means the landing wheels were damaged or broken. The aircraft then skidded off the runway."
Ebineng added that one of the plane's wings, as well as its right propeller, were damaged but no one was injured. The aircraft, a Beech craft King Air C90, registration number A2-MJM, was operated by Flying Mission Services.
Asked whether it is possible to get the plane fixed, Ebineng said the aircraft would have to be reassembled to get back to its shape. " It will have to be airlifted back to Gaborone. It will have to be assembled again, because the wheels are broken, and its engine also has a prop shock," he explained in an interview.
The aircraft was on a mercy flight from Gaborone and was due to return the same day. Meanwhile, the Ghanzi airport is open to service despite the mishap since the wreckage is clear of the runway.
Details are still sketchy but will be released once investigations are complete, the civil aviation authority said in a statement.
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