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Image copyrightEPAImage captionThe plane came down shortly after take-off from Havana A plane crash in Cuba which killed 112 people was caused by “human error”, the Mexican charter company which owns the plane says. Damojh Airlines said a study of the data recorders showed the Boeing 737 had taken off too steeply. Mexican pilots’ union … Continue reading Cuba plane crash with more than 100 casualties: Flight company blames Mexican crew on board

​ Share In 1969, at the height of the Cold War, a homesick, hungover mechanic in the US Air Force stole a plane from his base in East Anglia and set off for Virginia. Nearly two hours later, he disappeared suddenly over the English Channel. Did he simply crash or was he shot down? Emma … Continue reading Was the newlywed mechanic who stole a plane shot down?

​ Image copyrightAFP At least 19 people have been injured in a plane crash near the city of Pretoria in South Africa. Local emergency services posted a picture on Twitter showing passengers being helped from the burning wreckage of a plane in a grassy field. Unconfirmed reports said one person was critically injured. “Medics from … Continue reading Many casualties as plane crashes in South Africa

​ Saudi Arabia’s national football team landed safely after one of the engines on the plane carrying the players to a World Cup match appeared to catch fire. Russia’s Rossiya airline, which was carrying the squad from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don on Monday, said that the cause of a malfunction with the airplane was likely … Continue reading Plane carrying Saudi Arabia’s World Cup team catches fire in mid-air 

Five people were injured when a small plane operated by the UN’s humanitarian air service overturned on the runway in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, the organisation said. The accident happened during take off on a remote runway in Kamonia, in central Kasai region, according to statement from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which runs the UN air service, UNHAS. “The two crew members and three passengers sustained minor injuries and were taken to a local medical facility,” it added. The cause of the accident is being investigated. The WFP said the group was made up of two Ugandan crew and a French, Chadian and Congolese national, all of whom were not WFP employees. The small Cessna Caravan plane, chartered by the UN Humanitarian Air Service, “got stuck in the sand and overturned,” said local Congolese official Jean Paul Kuzuka, adding that the poor condition of the runway was the main cause of the accident. He reported that among the wounded were two Briton

Five people were injured when a small plane operated by the UN’s humanitarian air service overturned on the runway in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, the organisation said. The accident happened during take off on a remote runway in Kamonia, in central Kasai region, according to statement from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which runs the UN air service, UNHAS. “The two crew members and three passengers sustained minor injuries and were taken to a local medical facility,” it added. The cause of the accident is being investigated. The WFP said the group was made up of two Ugandan crew and a French, Chadian and Congolese national, all of whom were not WFP employees. The small Cessna Caravan plane, chartered by the UN Humanitarian Air Service, “got stuck in the sand and overturned,” said local Congolese official Jean Paul Kuzuka, adding that the poor condition of the runway was the main cause of the accident. He reported that among the wounded were two Briton

​ Two people died after a cargo plane crashed in Nepal during bad weather Wednesday, the latest aviation accident in the impoverished Himalayan nation. The Makalu Air flight lost contact moments after takeoff and crashed into a hillside not far from its destination in the remote northwestern district of Humla. The wreckage was found scattered across a mountain at an altitude of 3,900 metres (12,800 feet). “Bodies of both the pilot and co-pilot have been recovered from the crash site,” district chief Madhav Prasad Dhungana told AFP. “We believe it missed the route and crashed into a hillside, probably because of bad weather.” Nepal has a poor road network and many remote mountain communities rely on planes and helicopters to bring in basic goods. But the country has a dismal safety record, which is largely blamed on inadequate maintenance and poor management. Nepal-based airlines are banned from flying in European Union airspace because of safety concerns. In March, 51 people