Fatalities are being reported after an Ilyushin Il-76 freighter, apparently operated by Sudan’s Ababeel Aviation, crashed on take-off from Khartoum today, the third major air transport accident in Sudan in less than three weeks.
Ababeel Aviation is understood to operate two Il-76s, ST-WTA and ST-WTB, but the identity of the crashed jet has yet to be confirmed.
Meteorological data from Khartoum Airport shows no significant weather conditions at the reported time of the accident, around 07:00.
Loss of the Il-76 follows the crash of a Juba Air Cargo Antonov An-12 in southern Sudan on 27 June and the destruction of a Sudan Airways Airbus A310 at Khartoum on 10 June.
Ababeel Aviation had been among several Sudanese carriers which a United Nations panel last year recommended banning from operations, following an investigation into transport of military equipment into the troubled Darfur region of the country.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
