By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A Somali pilot has attracted praise after he safely crash-landed his passenger plane, which developed a technical fault, on the shoreline next to the capital’s international airport with all 55 on board surviving.
Starsky Aviation, which owns the passenger plane said the pilot’s quick thinking was crucial in saving the 50 passengers and five crew members.
The aircraft, a Fokker 50, reported a problem shortly after take off from Mogadishu on Tuesday, heading to Puntland and the crew requested that the plane return, Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
It then touched down but failed to stop on the runway, overshooting the tarmac before coming to rest in shallow water, the CAA’s director Ahmed Macalin Hassan said.
It is not clear the exact technical fault developed by the aircraft.
Footage posted on X showed passengers leaving the aircraft and walking away from the wreckage on the shore of the Indian Ocean. No serious injuries were reported.
The African Union’s mission in Somalia said UN and AU troops were “swiftly deployed” to help with rescue efforts. Somalia’s transport minister was also at the scene, its post on X added.
“We are relieved to confirm that all passengers and crew are safe. Investigations are under way to establish what caused the technical issue that led to the emergency landing,” spokesman of the aviation company, Hassan Mohamed Aden said.
