A Boeing passenger plane skidded off the runway during takeoff in Senegal early Thursday, causing injuries to 11 individuals and leading to the closure of the international airport near the capital Dakar for nearly 12 hours, according to airport management.
The B737/300 aircraft, which was an Air Senegal flight chartered by privately-owned Transair, was carrying 78 passengers and was headed for the Malian capital Bamako, as stated by airport managers LAS after the early hours incident left four passengers seriously injured.
The jet went off the runway during its takeoff at approximately 01:00 GMT, said LAS, which consists of Turkish group Limak, the publicly-owned airport operator AIBD, and another Turkish entity, Summa.
Eleven people were injured, with four of them sustaining serious injuries. Six other passengers were taken for medical check-ups inside the airport, LAS mentioned.
The group reported that the airport at Diass, which is 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Dakar, had reopened shortly after midday.
“We let you know that Blaise Diagne International Airport has reopened. Airport operations have returned to normal,” LAS stated.
The aircraft was “immobilised” away from the runway and an emergency plan was activated by airport authorities as soon as they were informed, the group said.
“All the airport emergency services have been mobilised for the evacuation of passengers and their care, as per the plan,” LAS continued.
Online images displayed a large hole in the left engine and the wing covered in firefighting foam.
“The exact circumstances of the incident remain to be determined, but an investigation is already underway to establish the reasons” why the aircraft left the runway.
“Aviation specialists along with representatives of the airline concerned are on site to examine closely the airline log data and interview crew members,” LAS said.
The incident took place amidst ongoing criticism of Air Senegal, with passengers frequently expressing dissatisfaction over flight delays, both domestic and international.
The state-owned entity commenced operations in May 2018, following the collapse of Senegal Airlines in April 2016. Senegal Airlines had replaced Air Senegal International in 2009, in which Senegal and Morocco were stakeholders.
The introduction of the latest version of the carrier is part of a three-stage plan to transform Dakar into a regional air hub around the international airport, which was inaugurated in December 2017, alongside the renovation of provincial airports.
The Blaise Diagne airport at Diass, named after the first African lawmaker elected to the French Parliament (1872-1934), has taken the place of the Leopold-Sedar-Senghor International Airport (AILSS) in the suburbs of the capital, which has been converted into a military facility.
Transair, established in 2010 and based at Blaise Diagne, serves a dozen destinations across West Africa, including Freetown in Sierra Leone, as well as Nouakchott, Banjul, and Conakry. According to its website, it transports around 90,000 passengers annually.
The incident on Thursday occurred one day after a Boeing 767 FedEx cargo plane landed at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear, which failed to deploy, although no injuries were reported, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.
AFP
