Plane crash in Chad kills two people on rhino monitoring mission
N'DJAMENA, May 14 (Reuters) - A small aircraft crashed near a village in Chad on Wednesday, killing its pilot and a passenger who were on a rhinoceros monitoring mission, the country's Civil Aviation Authority said.
The two-seater Savannah S aircraft operated by African Parks Network conservation group went down around 0500 GMT during a surveillance flight over Chad's southern Zakouma region, it said in a statement.
The South African pilot and an official from Chad's environment ministry died.
"The Civil Aviation Authority regrets to confirm that, according to information received, the two occupants tragically lost their lives in the accident," it said, adding that an investigation has been launched.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economist
8 hours ago
- Economist
No rest for the weekend
Photograph: Reuters Jun 13th 2025 ( published 5m ago) Sign up here to receive 'The US in brief' as a newsletter, each weekday, in your inbox.
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
What caused the Air India plane disaster? Six main theories emerge – from mystery over landing gear to 40C weather
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHILE the exact cause of the horrific Air India crash is not yet known, speculation continues to swirl online. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers on board - including 53 Brits and 11 children - smashed into a doctors' hostel in the west of India on Thursday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 12 A fire officer stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft Credit: Reuters 12 The Air India plane crashed into a medical college campus creating a huge fireball Credit: x/nchorAnandN 12 The plane's tail can be seen sticking out of a building following the crash Credit: AP 12 People sift through the debris of Air India flight AI171 as they search for survivors Credit: Alamy The plane was heading to London Gatwick when it crashed just moments after take-off. One of Flight AI171's two "black boxes" has reportedly been recovered - which should provide crucial evidence on the fatal five minutes between the plane's takeoff and impact. Follow our live blog here... The black box will provide technical information on details like time, airspeed, altitude and hearing. And the cockpit voice recorder may also offer vital clues such as any conversation between the two pilots, any engine noises or bangs, stall warnings or sounds of other equipment. The crash killed at least 265 people - including those on board and locals on the ground. As crash investigators begin to pour over that data, The Sun looks at six main theories as potential causes for India's worst ever aviation disaster. Bird strikes 12 Aviation experts believe the aircraft's engines could have been struck by birds Credit: X A bird strike could have taken out both of the jet's General Electric engines. While a bird taking down something the size of a commercial airliner might sound fanciful, there are numerous examples. Most famous was US Airways Flight 1549, which suffered double engine failure in 2009 after being hit by a flock of Canada geese shortly after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The plane, captained by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson river - earning the tagline the "Miracle on the Hudson" since there were zero casualities. Ahmedabad Airport is known to have a large avian population - a study in 2018 found the airport has 'a high potential of bird-aircraft collision hazards'. Captain C S Randhawa, who has flown a Boeing 777 for 15 years, and was the former Deputy Chief Flight Inspector, Operations, at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said a bird strike was "the most probable' cause of the crash. "Both Ahmedabad and Agra airports are full of birds. Incidents of aircraft being hit by birds keep happening on and off," he told The New Indian Express. Aviation safety consultant and instructor Captain Mohan Ranganathan told the same publication: "Bird hit appears to be the reason as of now. "Ahmedabad airport has a history of a huge bird population. I flagged this issue 17 years ago and have written extensively about it too." Brit survivor WALKS AWAY unscathed from Air India plane crash after jumping from flaming jet Captain Ranganathan claims that the birds are drawn to the slaughterhouses near the airport He added: 'The reason for such a huge presence is due to slaughterhouses in the vicinity of airports which should never have been allowed. "They are never relocated by the authorities because they are owned by politicians or their relatives.' In January 2021, an identical plane to the one involved in Thursday's crash aborted a take-off in Mexico after birds flew into one of its engines. Wing Flap Position 12 CCTV footage shows the doomed Air India Dreamliner taking off in Ahmedabad Credit: ViralPress Aviation experts have suggested that the position of the aircraft's wing flaps could have played a role in the disaster. Video evidence suggests the flaps were fully retracted, which would have provided minimal lift. The aircraft's landing gear also remained deployed throughout which would have increased potentially fatal drag. One theory is that the landing gear was stuck and pilots retracted the flaps to reduce drag or that the flaps were faulty and caused the plane to stall. Aviation expert Terry Tozer, author of Confessions of an Airline Pilot, told the BBC: "It's very hard to say from the video for sure, it doesn't look as if the flaps are extended and that would be a perfectly obvious explanation for an aircraft not completing its take-off correctly." Marco Chan, a former pilot and a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, said: "That would point to potential human error if flaps aren't set correctly, but the resolution of the video is too low to confirm that." Pilot error 12 The plane's captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience The state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 is highly automated, with human pilots making only key decisions - but human error cannot be ruled out. Co-pilot Clive Kundar had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience and made the mayday call but Captain Sumeet Sabharwa at the helm had 8,000 hours - making him one of Air India's most experienced pilots. Sabharwa was also a trained instructor, meaning he had a deep understanding of flying protocol. Estimates suggest the amount of runway utilised by the pilots was less than 2,000 metres - when a full plane on a hot day usually needs a run of 2,500 metres. Additionally, since the wing flaps are also set by the pilots before takeoff, with multiple checklists and procedures in place to ensure that they are positioned correctly, that could also be another source of human error. Heat 12 Smoke billows from the crash site, with temperatures hitting 40C on the day Credit: X Planes get less lift on a hot day due to lower air density, and therefore they need to go faster to get as much lift as on a cooler day. Flight AI171 took off in sweltering 40°C heat in the early afternoon sunshine. The plane may have struggled to gain lift if it took off after a short runway take-off. In his emergency mayday call, co-pilot Clive Kundar says "No thrust, losing power, unable to lift." Technical Error 12 One of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners taking off at London Heathrow Airport Credit: Alamy Catastrophic technical or engineering issues have not been ruled out. The jet's complex design mean it could take months for a design or engineering fault to be pinpointed. The Dreamliner has a spotless safety record - this is the first time the model has crashed since its introduction in 2011. However, airlines using the Boeing plane have reported numerous issues with the engines, including a mid-air dive on a LATAM Airlines flight last yeear. During hearings in Washington last year, a former Boeing engineer turned whistleblower urged the aerospace giant to ground all Dreamliners. However, the aircraft manufacturer rejected the claims and said it had full confidence in the 787. Overloading 12 People online have also speculated that the plane may have been over burdened Credit: Ray Collins The aircraft could also have been too heavy to take-off. Danger of overloading could be increased - again - by adverse wather conditions caused by extreme heat. But the weight of aircraft is usually carefully checked ahead of take-off and the theory is thought unlikely. 12 Securit personnel guard the crash site as night falls Credit: Reuters
NBC News
10 hours ago
- NBC News
Air India crash live updates: Search for answers as Modi meets lone survivor of plane disaster
What we know Rescuers in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad are searching for bodies in the wreckage of yesterday's Air India passenger jet crash, which killed all but one of the 242 people on board. Of the 230 passengers on board, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British nationals, one was a Canadian national and seven were Portuguese nationals, the airline said. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical dormitory near the airport shortly after takeoff. It was not clear how many people on the ground were also killed. Investigators are also searching for debris that could shed light on what caused the crash. There were no official statements on whether either of the two black boxes had been found. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the only passenger to survive the crash today. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian descent was traveling with his brother, family members said. Rescuers with sniffer dogs are continuing search efforts at the crash site, where they are still recovering bodies. There has been no official statement on whether either of the two black boxes have been recovered. There were 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board, Air India said in a statement. It said that 241 people were killed and that the survivor was being treated in a hospital. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical hostel near the Ahmedabad airport, and it is unclear how many people on the ground were also killed. Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat An Air India flight made an emergency landing in Thailand after receiving an onboard bomb threat. Air India Flight 379, which left the Thai island of Phuket this morning en route to New Delhi, landed back on the island shortly after takeoff, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. All 156 passengers were escorted from the plane as is standard in emergencies, Reuters reported, citing an Airports of Thailand official. Hoax bomb threats are common in India, where airports and airlines received about 1,000 last year alone, and they are taken especially seriously given India's history of bombings and hijackings from the 1970s through the 1990s. Like other airlines, Air India's flight schedule has also been affected by Israel's attack on Iran earlier today, which prompted Iran to close its airspace. The airline said on X that 16 flights were being diverted or returning to their point of origin. India's Prime Minister Modi visits crash site and hospital Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the crash site in Ahmedabad and met with the sole survivor at a hospital. Modi visited with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor out of 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport shortly after takeoff yesterday, a video on his official YouTube channel showed. He also met with some of those who were injured when the plane crashed into a medical hostel. 'The scene of devastation is saddening,' Modi said in a post on X after visiting the crash site. 'Our thoughts remain with those who lost their loved ones in this unimaginable tragedy.' Modi said he had also met with officials and teams working 'tirelessly' in the aftermath. NBC News
