Boeing 727 loses control and crashes during landing in 'terrifying incident'

A Safe Air Boeing 727 plane has crashed while landing after the pilot lost control and the cargo plane careened into a previously crashed plane.

The incident happened as the plane was landing at Malakal Airport in South Sudan while carrying supplies from Juba, reports suggest. A statement from the Press Unit of the Office of Upper State in Malakal released a statement regarding the alleged cargo plane crash.

Seven people on board the flight were reported as safe while RadioTamazuk reported one person had been injured. The Mirror has contacted Safeair and Kush Airlines for comment.

A statement from the Upper State governor's office read: "In a terrifying incident, a cargo plane carrying supplies from Juba to Malakal experienced technical difficulties and crash-landed at Malakal Airport on Sunday morning. Fortunately, all seven people on board were able to evacuate the plane safely."

Governor James Odhok Oyay's press office also released a statement, which read: "The plane, which was operated by Kush Airline, encountered problems while landing, and was forced to make an emergency landing."

It added "the aircraft skidded off the runway and crashed into the debris of another plane that had crashed just a few months earlier." Said aircraft is believed to be the African Express Airways MD-82(5Y-AXL) which suffered an accident on February 9, 2024.

Bol Mijok Lual, the acting airport general manager said in a statement: "A large cargo plane landed and crashed at our airport at 11 a.m. This plane landed a few meters outside the runway, causing its tyres to burst and turn inside out. As a result, the plane lost control and hit a plane that had previously crashed."

Governor Odhok had expressed concerns on the quality of the airport and their ability to handle emergencies and reportedly called for expansions and improvements to the runway to meet safety standards. An eyewitness speaking to Radio Tamazuj said: "The way this plane was coming, it was too down, and the plane was too big. The plane landed some meters away from the runway, so it crashed."

The reported crash saw the cargo plane collide with another downed aircraft left on the runway. The written-off plane sat on the runway is believed to have suffered a main gear collapse which caused substantial damage to the aircraft.