Several injured as Boeing 737 crashes during take-off in Senegal | Watch video – Mint

According to reports, Air Senegal flight HC 301 went off the runway while taking off for the Malian capital city of Bamako. The pilot was slightly injured in the accident. Eleven people were injured in total — four of them seriously. Six other passengers were taken for medical check-ups inside the airport. 

The incident is also the latest in a lengthy string of disasters involving Boeing aircrafts. The accident in Senegal comes less than a day after an Istanbul-bound Boeing 767 cargo plane belonging to FedEx was forced to land on its nose after the front landing gear failed to deploy. 190 people were safely evacuated from a plane in Turkey on Thursday after one of its tires burst during landing at a southern airport. Earlier on Tuesday, an Air France 787-900 flying to from Paris to Seattle was diverted to Canada after a burning smell was detected in the cabin.

A statement from airport management company LAS said the Boeing 737-300 “came off the runway during its takeoff phase” around 1:00 am local time. Airport officials also told AFP that “a fire started up in one part of the plane” after the crash.

A probe has been launched to understand the reasons why the aircraft — chartered from privately owned Transair — had 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 developments also come at a time when Air Senegal has already endured months of criticism with passengers regularly complaining about delays to domestic and international flights.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Published: 09 May 2024, 05:27 PM IST